Look At Us Now
by ValkyrieWarrior
Summary: Sasuke is finally coming back and Naruto and Sakura couldn't be happier. But, something feels terribly wrong. Will Naruto be able to figure it out before it's too late? NARUSAKU! SHIKAINOSAI.
1. Back Home

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: I have decided that I will personally meet with Masashi Kishimoto and attempt to convince him that he does not want, nor does he need Naruto. Instead, he should just give the whole thing to me. Wish me luck.

This is a continuation from the story Love Sick Puppy. So go and read that first, it will help a little. This is somewhat another story of its own, so just think of LSP as a little background story for this. Made sense?

I want to thank those who reviewed and read my story.

iMMATUREx, HokageNaruto, narusaku, Kokuo no Shin'en, narusakufan, "me", GunnerRyuu, "what to do", gryffinOFfire14, nick narusaku, the-everglow, the vampire armond, satyanasi420, RhiannonG, MoD366, amiori-and-sherri-fluff, and michele. And those who read it.

THANKS A BUNCH.

I also want to thank the-everglow. Without her, I don't think I could have written this. She helped me out a lot.

Alright enough with the AN's...ONWARD WITH THE STORY.

'thoughts'

"talking"

_**Inner-self**_

_Flashbacks_

_----_

_For all the times that we ever couldn't be_

_Look at us baby, look at us now..._

_----_

**Chapter 1: Back Home**

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Somewhere in the middle of a forest, the laughter's of a woman can be heard.

"Naruto...hahahaha, please stop that...hehe..haha...it tickles." Sakura tired to get Naruto to stop licking her belly, but she was too weak from the feeling to do anything. All she can do was sit there and plead. "Naruto, I swear...hahahah...if you don't stop now I will make you regret it." (Alright, maybe plead was the wrong word to use).Tears were starting to form in her eyes from laughing so hard.

_Flashback five minutes ago _

_Naruto and Sakura were resting against a tree. Sakura sat against it while Naruto rested on her lap. She was slowly brushing his hair with her soft hands as he seems to be sleeping. Of course, Naruto was just waiting for the right moment to jump in and tickle her until she begged him to stop. So, as Sakura was closing her eyes to rest, Naruto made his move. Without warning, he flips them over with him on top. Sakura was unable to move from her confusion. _

_Naruto smirked. _

_Sakura was a little scared of that look. _

_Before she could scold him, Naruto attacked her stomach. He first used his hands to rub the sides of her abdomen, but then decided that that was too easy. So he immediately switched to a more effective device, his tongue. He was proud to hear her shriek in half surprise, half joy. _

_Back to present_

Naruto stops his work to look up on her, "Oh yeah, what are you going to do?" he said mischievously, clearly not threatened. He stops what he's doing to give her a chance to answer.

She thinks for a moment before she says, "Well you see, we have another day or so 'till we reach Konoha. I carry our food supply and you get hungry every hour. So, unless you don't want to eat ramen for a while, I suggest you let me go." Sakura replied with a smirk. She knew Naruto places a high value on ramen, so he had no choice but to comply.

'Damn it...she's too quick for me.'

_**"A slug is quicker than you." Kyuubi barked back.**_

'Shut up!'

Naruto looks at her and smiles. He knew she would do what she threatened, no more like promised to do if he didn't stop tickling/licking her. He wasn't about to make Sakura mad at him. Also, he wasn't exactly fond of the idea of not eating for two days. A hungry Naruto, think of the nightmare. He decided it was best he stopped, besides he could always do this later when their alone.

He leans in and gives her a quick but tender kiss on the lips before getting up.

"Well in that case, we should start moving then if we ever want to get back." He extends his arm to help her up.

She accepts his hands as she gets up, "That's what I thought."

**_"AHH!!!Woman what is your problem, I was loving that!!!" _**Inner Sakura said, she was infuriated.

Sakura decided not to reply, instead she just started packing her things, while Naruto was doing the same. Not long after, they were ready to go back home

_**"Why you evil little bitc-" **_

"Hey Sakura, ready to go?" The young man asked her.

"Yeah, let's go."

They made their way down the dirt path. Naruto wasn't sure whether he should hold her hand.

'I should hold her hand.' He was about to extend his hand, but decided against it. 'No I shouldn't. I'll let her determine where we are. She might hit me if I tried grabbing her hand anyways.'

Sakura noticed this and decided for him. After a quick peck on the cheek, she grabs his hand and intertwines it with hers. They soon departed.

**Inside the Hokage's Office----------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Are you sure?" Tsunade asked her assistant again, not really believing what she just heard. Tsunade had been sleeping on a pile of paper on her desk, with sake on her hands. She was interrupted by the woman in front of her now, the younger woman had said that it was urgent.

"Yes Hokage-sama. The letter is here." Shizune hands Tsunade the letter. The aged woman carefully reads the letter and her eyes widen. "Hokage-sama? What are you going to do?"

Tsunade looks down as she contemplates on what to do.

"Tsunade-sama?"

**With Naruto And Sakura----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"So, umm, Sakura-chan, does this mean we're dating?" Naruto moves his head to the side to look at his beautiful cherry blossom.

Sakura decided to mess with a little more, just for the heck of it. "Well Naruto, how could we be dating if we haven't gone on a date? Besides, you haven't asked me out yet this week." She turns to look at him with an innocent smile on her face.

Naruto chuckles a little before he stops walking. He turns to her and captures her in an intimate hug. Ever so sweetly, he asks her, "Sakura, will you go out with me?"

Sakura returns the hug, and with the same tender tone, she replies, "I would love to go out with you, my Naruto."

**Outside of Konoha, near the gates. Two days later.-------------------------------------------**

A girl walks back and forth in front of the gates. She was waiting for the arrival of her friends.

'Ah, stupid forehead said she'll be back today. Where is she?' the blond girl paced back and forth.

'Why am I even complaining, I'm the one who wanted to greet her.' Ino walks over to a nearby bench and sits down.

'Man, will she laugh her head off when I tell her about me and Sai. Quite honestly, I never would have thought it could happen, but it did. And I'm so glad it did. He's so strong and cute and...' her thoughts were cut off by the sound of someone's footsteps. Ino turns to look, hoping to see Sakura, but to her dismay, it was only Shikamaru. She signs and slouches her shoulders.

"Hey Ino." Shikamaru comes and sits by her.

"Hey there Shika." Ino didn't even bother to turn her head. This seemed to hurt Shikamaru. For sometime, no one says a word. Ino was too busy thinking about her new boo, while Shikamaru was having an inner battle with himself. He couldn't take it anymore and decided to break the silence,

"Nice day, huh. You can see the clouds clearly it's so nice."

Ino just looks at him like he just spoke another language. This didn't make him feel better. So, while signing, he decided to get to the point.

"I heard about you and Sai," he was interrupted by Ino's obnoxious voice.

"Yeah!! He and I are a thing now. I'm so happy Shika. He is so great; he has such nice eyes..." Shikamaru couldn't take it anymore.

"This is too troublesome. I'm going now." Ino was surprised about his reaction. She thought he would be happy for her, considering he was her friend, but something didn't seem right with him. Shikamaru was about to get up when another yet loud and obnoxious voiced screamed its way into his delicate ears.

"FOREHEAD!!! Took you long enough. You know how long I've been waiting here for you! I swear if I-" Ino stopped talking immediately when her eyes caught sight of Naruto and Sakura holding hands. "What's going on here, you guys hiding something from us?" Shikamaru only look their way, while thinking to himself, 'this is so troublesome.'

'Ino will never let me hear the end of this.' Sakura, never letting go of Naruto's hand, walks over to where Shikamru and Ino are standing.

"Well, not really. Its just Naruto and I are going out now." Sakura clearly replied to her rival/friend. All Naruto could do was nod in agreement. He learned a long time ago not to butt in when these two were talking.

"What!! When were you planning on telling me about this forehead?!" Ino stated/screamed while she waved her fist in the air.

"I just did pig." Sakura was now doing the same thing that Ino is. Sounds of electricity hitting a water can be heard, while a flash of thunder seemed to flash out of nowhere from each of the girls forehead and meeting halfway.

"So, how was the mission, Naruto?" Shikamaru focus his attention to Naruto, drowning out the creaming girls in the background.

Naruto turns his head to Shikamaru. "Huh? Oh, it was fine. Gaara made sure we had a great time. If you asked me, it felt more like a vacation than a mission." Naruto simply replied with his eyes close as he scratched the back of his head.

"I see. So you and Sakura, huh? Well, congrats man. You're lucky." Shikamaru said with a little more enthusiasm than his regular self.

"Hehehe. Thanks. And I already know I'm lucky. I'm with the person I love. How luckier can you get than that!" Naruto said with his 'believe it' thumps up.

The girls were done screaming at each other by this point. Though it may not seem so, they are actually quite close. Best friends even. The occasional screaming and death threats were just the many ways they express love towards each other. They really are close. No seriously they are.

Ino completely forgot that she just wanted to kill the woman standing in front of her when she remembered why she came in the first place.

"Oh, oh, oh, guess what Sakura."

"You got a sex change?" Sakura said laughing.

Either Ino didn't hear her say that, or she was so excited to tell her Ino didn't bother to listen to her reply.

"What? I don't know what you said. But anyway," Ino screeched in a high pitch, "I have a boyfriend, and it's Sai!! AHHH!! I'm so happy."

_**"Run away before it's too late." Inner Sakura pleaded.**_

All Sakura could do was stare at her in wonder.

"Sakura, say something." Ino was looking into her eyes.

_**"Now, do it now. Run for it."**_

'How in the world would Ino want to go out with him? Never mind, its Ino where talking about here. But what about Sai. Well, I suppose Ino could keep him in check with her, well um, Ino-ness.' Sakura thought. 'Huh, I almost feel sorry for that guy. Almost.' Sakura starts to laugh, 'haha, if anything this will be fun to watch.'

**_"Why are you still standing here? Run for it already. I want to see Naruto!" Sakura's inner self cried to herself. _**(AN: That wasn't confusing at all! )

'Okay, just let me say bye to her.'

"That's great Ino. I'm happy for you two. Well, umm I have to go now and talk to Naruto."

"Oh right, you guys are a thing now too. Well see ya later forehead. Don't do anything I wouldn't in the first date." With that, Ino darted away from a fuming Sakura.

"PIG!!!!" Sakura was once again waving her fist in the air, "I'll kill you!"

"Well, I'll see you later dude." He turns around and begins to walk away with his hand waving a 'later' in the air.

"Bye Shikamaru." Naruto waves goodbye to his friend.

After the welcome-back party was gone, Naruto walks over to his sweet cherry blossom. Sakura was still shaking her fist in the air screaming bloody murder, but then she felt something on her waist. Looking down, she notices that someone has wrapped their arms around her waist. She could feel the person's breathing against her back, making her calm down. Sakura closes her eyes and relaxes, she already knew who it was holding her. Naruto holds her tighter.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto whispers in her ear while he hugged her from the back. Sakura bucks her head on his neck to get more comfortable. This was bliss to the both of them.

"mmmm?" she was too relaxed to say a real word.

"I love you."

He kisses her from the side. It was sweet and romantic, but soon turned into a heated, passionate one. Sakura turns so she was face to face with him. Her hands were traveling from his waist to his arms. She rubbed it for some time, feeling the well built muscle that he has gotten over the years of training. Finally, she moves again and finds his cheeks as she cupped it. She draws his head closer to her, making their lips closer than before. She moans as she asked for entry this time, licking his lips everywhere.

Naruto was in a state of euphoria. He loves the ways she caressed his muscles, so he flexed them just for her. But soon they were gone. He felt something pulling him deeper into the kiss, so he leans in. Not long after, he felt Sakura licking his lips everywhere as if they would disappear from existence. This made him shiver, and very excited down there. He opens his lips, then he was taken back by her sudden aggressiveness as she plunged her tongue into his mouth.

She was forceful, demanding.

He wanted to satisfy her so he fought back with just as much force. Their tongues wrestled each other, either one giving up in the struggle. He licked. She moaned. She kissed back. He shivers from the sensation while letting out a groan.

Naruto was getting excited, really excited.

**_"Damn we must be really good if he's already excited! Grind him, grind him." _**Inner Sakura chuckled while waving a Narusaku flag in the air.

Sakura didn't need her inner persona to convince her to be more aggressive, she just wanted to go slowly. She stops fondling with his hair and moves her arms around his neck. Naruto in turn places his hands around her waist, pulling her even closer than before.

**_"I think she already knows you're hot for her. No need to draw her to the obvious kit." _**Kyuubi said. But he only got a 'yeah, whatever' from his container. He may not outwardly admit it out loud, but the Kyuubi was also loving every moment of this. He loves a mate that can take control.

Then Sakura took it a step further. She slowly, teasingly rubs her lower area against his obvious bulge.

Naruto moans loudly from the feeling. Oh he was going to get her later for this! But for now, he returns the favor and grinds his pelvic area into her. They were doing this for a while, grinding each other, while all the while making out. However, realization soon kicked in and they remembered that they were in public. Sakura was the first to break apart, being the reasonable of the two.

"Naruto, we shouldn't do this here." She pants out, her erratic heart rate not yet back to normal.

"Your right, lets get out of here."

SMACK

"Oww, what was that for?" Naruto rubs the bump on his head.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant we shouldn't be doing this in public, nor are we going to do it anytime soon with you acting like this."

'It was worth the try.' Naruto signs in defeat. But he wasn't going to force her into doing it either if she wasn't ready.

"Okay Sakura-Chan." Naruto jumps in and captures her into another lung crushing hug.

"Nar-Naru-...I c-cant---air." Sakura was trying to grasp the air, as if she would suddenly be able to breathe again if she did.

"Oh, sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto realizes her, "it's just that I'm so happy were finally together. I just can't control myself at times." He said smiling innocently.

"It's okay Naruto. I'm happy too, but I'll be happier if I didn't die because I couldn't breath." Sakura smacks him playfully on the arm. "So, I have to go home first. I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Let's go somewhere tonight. Pick you up around eight?" Sakura nods and kisses Naruto one more time before the two parted ways.

**Somewhere in a random building, rookie 6, team Gai, plus Sai---------------------**

"AKAMARU. Stop, put down Hinata's bag." Kiba was chasing the dog around the room, trying to get the bag that Akamaru has confiscated from Hinata. Hinata was trying to say something but couldn't, so she just watched as her team members run around the room. Akamaru was now running under the table that Neji and Tenten were sitting near by. By now, Lee has joined the chase just for the fun of it. The dog runs pass by Choiji, who was standing next to Shikamaru.

"For the love of Kami, someone stop that dog already." Ino cried out from the corner that she shared with Sai. "It's making to much ruckus."

Akamaru kept his pace as Kiba and Lee followed behind him. The dog turns to look back on his pursuers to see if they were catching up. It seems Lee had enough and sat back down. The dog turns back ahead.

THUD

Akamaru hits something. Kiba has by now caught up to the dog.

While trying to catch his breath Kiba says, "Thanks Shino." Shino nods his head and fixes his sun glasses. Kiba scolded Akamaru as he picked him up and returned the bag back to Hinata, who gave him a week 't-thank-you' in return.

"Say Ino, where are Sakura and Naruto. I thought they returned today?" Tenten inquired from her friend.

"Oh, well I guess they're out somewhere. They are dating now, so I guess we'll see less of them from now." Ino replied as she snuggled closer to Sai. Shikamaru turns his head the other way so he didn't have to witness that.

After hearing what Ino said, Hinata looks down.

'Naruto and Sakura are dating?' She asked no one in particular. She had always wanted Naruto ever since she first saw him. 'I guess that's not going to happen now. Well, I hope you're happy Naruto.'

"I didn't know dickless had it in him." Sai said in the corner that he shared with Ino.

"You're one to talk." Shikamaru once again shifted his attention to the couple. He seemed really bothered by Sai lately.

"What is that suppose to mean, lazy ass?" Sai fought back.

"You know what I meant. Anyone in this room has more balls that you could ever wish for." The two were now walking towards each other, ready to punch it out. Lee saw this so he decided to go in and stop it before it got too far.

"Guys, you shouldn't waste your youthful energy on this." Lee said with his highly energized youthful voice, which got him a glare from both the youths.

"Fine." Sai walked back to Ino.

"Whatever. This is such a drag." Shikamaru said as he walked out the room.

"What was that about. Is Shikamaru feeling okay? He's saying more words than he usually cares to say." Ino was looking at everyone for an answer. She looked at Sai, who simply looked her in the eyes. She turned to Choiji, but he was on his way out as well.

'What's going on?' Ino was a little worried by Shikamaru's actions lately. First at the gates, and now this.

"Well, I guess I'm going now." Tenten said as she got up to leave. Neji followed soon after, leaving only the rest in there.

"Yeah, I have to go now too." Lee waved goodbye to his friends. One by one, they left. Soon it was just Hinata and Kiba in the room.

Hinata was still thinking about Naruto. She still couldn't believe what she heard. But she wanted to be happy for them. 'Easier said than done.' Hinata was looking out the window when a voice brought her back to the world.

"Hey, Hinata. Ready to go?"

She looks to Kiba and nods.

**Somewhere outside the borders of Konoha-----------------------------------------------**

"Naruto, where are we going?" Sakura was blind folded from the time being. She was being guided by Naruto so she doesn't slip.

"You'll see. Where almost there." He holds on to her tightly, making sure not to slip and make her fall. About three minutes later, they arrived to their destination.

Sakura felt the blind fold being lifted off her, so she slowly opens her eyes. What she saw next stunned her. They were on a hill top, with the most beautiful view. It was Konoha as the sun set. You can see the layers of daylight slowly being replaced by the night. The village looked calm from the top view. She could see the Hokage tower and the monuments. It was spectacular.

"Naruto, it's beautiful." Naruto looks her in the eyes and, never breaking eye contact, said, "Yeah it is." Sakura understood exactly what he meant by that and blushes a little.

Naruto grabs her hand and leads her to a nearby tree. He sat down against it, pulling her down with him. He cradled her as she rested on his chest.

"Naruto this is nice. I want to stay here forever." Sakura closes her eyes and leans against his chest. Naruto looks at her resting from, losing himself in her beauty. He folds his arms around her as they cuddled. This is heaven. Naruto had never been happier in his life. He knew now that he wanted to face each and everyday with her, just like this. Whatever life threw at him, he knew he would get through it. Because now Sakura was by his side and he had no intentions on changing it. She was his happiness now, his everything. Without her, he was nothing. He wanted to cry, not because he was sad. No, definitely not out of sadness. He wanted to cry because he was so happy. Never in his life has he ever felt more love.

She was his savoir. She lead him out of his loneliness and into a whirling journey. A journey that they will face together.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted bye someone's voice. He feels Sakura trying to get up to see who the stupid idiot that dared ruin this moment was. He does the same and sits up. A man was running towards them. Naruto helped Sakura up on her feet.

Panting, the man said, "Naruto-san...Sakura-san. Come...pants...quick, the H-Hokage...wants to see you...both." The messenger was still panting hard.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Sakura said, she looked concerned.

The messenger has gather enough air to properly speak, "There's a message for you two...from...Sasuke."

Silence.

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**AN: **

**Okay, end of chapter one.**

**I hope that was at least entertaining to read. I tried my best to add more drama in the story. **

**I also wanted to put Ino and Sai in this.**

**Feel free to tell me what you guys think.**

**So long as it's not flames. BEING BURNED HURTS!!!**

**I love reviews; they give me joy and keep me motivated. **

**Once again I want to thank the-everglow, who has helped me out A LOT on this story. She's the best!!! I luv u Rae **

**Review Please!!**

**BYE-BYE for now**

**Rena.**


	2. So what's wrong?

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWorrior

Disclaimer: Unfortunately Masashi Kishimoto is "unavailable" for the time being, so I can't meet him. So I am here to say that HE still owns Naruto and I am just a fan. (i.e. I don't own Naruto)

Thanks again for those who reviewed/commented/read my story.

MoD366, the vampire armond, satyanasia420, Ambs1516, AVATAR 65, Ghozt, Naru x Saku, Narusakufan, PinkYellowRoses2, TroublesomeShikamaru, and sah313.

THANX

Oh, as you may have noticed, I changed the name of the story. I just thought this would fit better.

Summary: Naruto and Sakura relationship is put to the test after a series of events causes them to doubt each other. NARUHINASAKUSASU.

I'm trying my best to update every week, but unfortunately I find myself buried in school work. Okay that was a lie. I'm playing Sims 2, which happens to be very addicting.

Also, I wanted to say that this is like the fifty millionth version I thought up for this. I had so many ideas for it, but it would have taken too (copy and paste x299999991) long. Besides, the other version(s) was too angsty for me. So, I'm just going to keep this nice and simple. Sweet and to the point. So some of you may feel like I'm rushing. Oh and I should probably say this now. I don't plan to make this too long. Maybe ten chaps at most and seven at least. But then again I never know.

Onward...

'thoughts'

"talking"

_**Inner-self**_

_Flashbacks_

_----_

_The fear begins to creep in_

_The distance begins to grow_

_----_

_---------------------------------_

**Previously...**

_Panting, the man said, "Naruto-san...Sakura-san. Come...pants...quick, the H-Hokage...wants to see you...both." The messenger was still panting hard._

_"What's wrong? What happened?" Sakura said, she looked concerned._

_The messenger has gather enough air to properly speak, "There's a message for you two...from...Sasuke."_

_Silence._

_------------------------------------_

**Chapter 2: So What's Wrong**

**------------------------------------**

"W-What?" Sakura was the first to speak. Her voice was shaky, for reasons unknown to her. Her body was still, very still.

"There's a message for you two from -" the messenger began again only to be cut short by Naruto.

"Sasuke!" His ears couldn't believe what he had just heard. The guy just said Sasuke, right? He did mean that ravened haired boy whose sole purpose of living was to avenge the murder of his family, Sasuke? That Sasuke, right?

Sakura was just as dumbfounded.

"H-he has a message? For us?" he still couldn't grasp what he just heard.

"What did it say?" Sakura eagerly asked, to which the messenger said,

"That I do not know. The hokage said to say for you two to report to her office though." he looks at the two astounded kids.

'I can't believe it. Sasuke is writing to us?' Sakura thought. The two kids remained quiet because they were too lost in their own thoughts.

Feeling that his job was done, and was no longer needed there, the guy says, "Don't forget, the hokage wants to see you both in her office." Then the messenger poofed away, leaving a cloud of smoke for them to cough on.

They were quiet for a while, neither one daring to be the first to speak. It was a little too hard to comprehend the thought.

They were glad, happy to hear from their friend. From the guy they have both sworn to help, to get back.

But at the same time, they were both feeling something weird and uneasy about it. It was mostly Naruto. He was getting this sick feeling in his stomach that was screaming that something was wrong.

But he couldn't exactly get it. He knew something was bothering him, he just didn't know what.

'Maybe it was just something I ate.' Naruto thought. He decided that it was better he didn't worry about it.

"Sakura-chan, let's go." Naruto looked back on her.

"Yeah."

The two ninjas jumped from tree to tree, heading to the Hokage's office.

------------------------------------------

Uchiha Sasuke.

The promising rookie ninja of Konoha when he first became a genin. The third member of team seven, the best even. Not just in his team, but the entire rookie nine.

However, the boy was doomed with a destiny he could not escape.

The desire for revenge.

After the murder of his family, he became an avenger. Seeking revenge for the wrongs done to him.

He trained and he trained, always trying to excel his limits so that maybe one day he could kill the guy who murdered his clan. Uchiha Itachi, his brother. Nothing else could occupy his time, nothing else was as important as training his body and his mind. He broke away from people, knowing that they would only drag him down. The Uchiha didn't want any sort of feelings for anyone because to him that was weakness, something to slow his progress.

However, try as he might, he found himself always losing to Itachi. Always.

The cursed seal could not help him. The training with Kakashi was getting him no where and he felt that it was useless. He was getting frustrated with getting nowhere. But then, something happened.

Something great for him, but devastating to his friends.

Sasuke left for Orochimaru to train. Left his friend behind to seek the power of a snake, giving himself willingly to be controlled by him, if only he could be stronger. He left Konoha village that night.

That was the night he broke Sakura's heart, which tore Naruto's apart.

He was once their comrade. No, he is their comrade. Sakura and Naruto vowed to save him, help him out of the trap that he has fallen into. They vowed to each other that no matter what, they would see him again. The guy that they knew to be good, their rival and their friend.

Uchiha Sasuke.

-------------------------------------

"Yo man, wait up."

Shikamaru turns to his friend, who is currently eating something as he tried to catch up to him. Shikamaru stops to wait for him. It was getting really dark and the moonlight casted a shadow upon the town, marking that it was time they get home.

"Hey man, what was that about?" Choiji finally caught up to him. He stops to breath for a second, but only for a second. Soon he was munching on his food again.

"What was what about?" he stated expressionless. Okay that wasn't entirely accurate, he look bored.

"Come on dude, stop acting oblivious. I know you know what I want to know."

"You know what you want to know." Shikamaru said it in a way that sent a message saying I-already-told-you-so-don't-ask-me-again-I'm-not-in-the-mood. Choiji just munches on.

"Oh, you mean that thing you said about In-ahh" he drops the bag of food he was holding and grabs is neck. He was chocking on his food. (AN: '--) You would think that someone like Choiji, who professionally eats, would never experience such predicaments. I mean he only eats every ten seconds! So he should be immune to these sort of things, right? Shouldn't he have by now created some sort of receptor to indicate his brain that he is about to choke so his brain can send impulses to counter it? Shouldn't that be a bloodline trait that they have.

Well that's what Shikamaru thought anyway.

"For crying out loud Choiji. This is why you don't eat and talk at the same time." Shikamaru walks over to his friend to aid him so he doesn't die. He lifts his hand and forcefully slams it on his back. May not be the best tactic, but just then something came flying out of Choiji's mouth.

"T-Thanks man." Choiji was still coughing a little, but he felt better now that there was nothing stuffed down his throat. He wanted to give his friend something in return, after all he did just save his life. He feels around in his pockets, but there was nothing in there. He thought about buying his friend something, but he was broke at the moment. He considered giving him the very food (no, no, not the thing that flew out of him!) he choked on to Shikamaru. His left eye twitched a little.

'Oh well, he knows I'm grateful.'

"Thanks again man." Shikamaru just blinked.

"So, umm, you going to do anything about it?" Choiji began again, but first he picks up the bag and starts eating again.

Shikamaru looks up into the dark sky.

"Maybe I'll just let her be. She's better off not knowing."

"Who's better off not knowing?" a third voice asked. How could they not have seen Ino walking up to them? They should be ashamed to call themselves a ninja if they can't even sense someone coming. For all those days they spent training their ears so that they would always be on guard. And couldn't they sense her chakra, especially after they are all in the same team.

Well, Choiji was too busy eating to care quite frankly and Shikamaru actually sensed her, but didn't do anything about it. He wanted her to hear what he was going to say. He wanted to tell her so badly that she shouldn't be with Sai, that he was no good for her.

Choiji's eyes widen in surprised. He looks over to Shikamaru to see what he will do.

But Shikamaru remained calm and collected. He had his own way of letting her know. Soon enough she will.

"No one really." He replied. But Ino was determined to find out. She was worried about him. Lately Shikamaru had been acting weird and picking fights with Sai.

"You think I'm buying that for one second?"

"I'm not trying to sell it. Up to you to believe me or not." And with that, Shikamaru walks away. "Later."

'GAH!!What's wrong with him?' Ino looks to Choiji, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey where's Sai, Ino?"

"Eh? Oh, he went home."

"Oh, so he left you to walk home alone?" Choiji wasn't exactly sure if pointing this out could help his friend or get him killed.

Ino looked hurt by this statement. 'He left me alone? No way, Choiji's just trying to make me mad! But why would he purposely make me mad?AHH!! I hate this night! So many questions!'

"Grr. Shut up Choiji! Just go home."

----------------------------------------

Tsunade was in her office waiting for the arrival of the two ninjas. She looked tired, her eyes were deep and she felt heavy as she stood there. In her right hand she held the letter, grasping it tightly, afraid that if she eased her hold on it, it would disappear.

She wasn't liking the fact that she is burdened with this sudden problem. Not too long ago, she was just sleeping on a very hard pillow with sake in her hands as she dreamed. It was just another day in Konoha. But no, someone was just determined to make her miserable.

'Ah. This Uchiha kid is just going to be trouble.' She thought to herself. 'Man, this is why I shouldn't have accepted to be hokage. Too much trouble.'

Well she was getting tired of just standing there so she started to walk towards her desk. When she reached it, she carefully places the piece of paper down on her desk as she sat down. She still had so much to do.

Paper works that need to be signed. Her eye twitches at the thought. Villagers that need advising, cats that need to be help off tree's, and many other jobs that need her attention.

'I need sake.' Just then she heard the voice of her assistant on the other side of room. It was unclear and muffled, but she understood it.

"Let them in."

The door springs open and a darting Naruto comes running in the room. Right behind him was a just as enliven Sakura. Tsunade was a little scared about those two sometimes, especially when they looked like this.

"Old hag," a vein pops in her head after hearing his unique voice, " I heard you have something for us. Sasuke, from Sasuke!" Naruto was at the edge of her desk, searching her eyes for the answers to his question. Naruto and Tsunade had an unbreakable bond. They loved each other like brother and sister, mother and son. Though it seems that Naruto would annoy the crap out of her, he could quickly make her feel better as well. He admires her, she has a soft spot for him. He annoys her, she smacks him. Don't get it the wrong way. Though they act like they hate each other and fight after every ten minutes, they really love each other. Tsunade was the mother Naruto never knew and he admires her for being Hokage. He just doesn't outwardly admits it.

"Sasuke has a letter for us?" Sakura was a little more controlled than Naruto, but just as eager. "What did it say? Is he okay? Did something happen?"

"Calm down you two. Nothing bad happened to him." The two teens calmed down after Tsunade assured them nothing bad has happened to him. Sakura signs a breath in relief while Naruto calms down a little.

"So, what happened?" the worried girl inquired from her teacher. See, Sakura became the Hokage's apprentice after the chuunin exams. Tsunade taught her how to manipulate he chakra to help and fix wounds, an important thing to have especially if they were in dangerous missions. Sakura had always been the weakest in her group, always the one holding them back. But she felt that if she learned from none other that the great Tsunade herself, then she would no longer be a hassle to her team, but instead an important member that could help. She didn't want to be bother to them anymore, and by becoming a medic nin, she felt more useful. Tsunade saw this determination in her, this willingness to help her team mates, so she couldn't help but take her in. During their trainings, Tsunade would push her to her limit, making her stronger, and all the while bonding. They became like mother and daughter. Sakura saw her as another mother figure and she is Tsunade's daughter that she never had.

Tsunade motions them to sit down as she moves her hand to get the letter. She unfolds it careful and, after clearing her throat, begins to read.

_Sakura and Naruto_

_I am writing you this letter because of one simple reason. I have killed my brother, Uchiha Itachi. Now that I have, it is in my intentions to return to Konoha to live the rest of my life. I can understand if the Hokage-sama doesn't trust me. But all I want to do is return and complete my second goal. I know that I will be punished for what I have done, and I will accept it. _

_I will depart two days before I send this letter. So I should be there within a day that you get this. _

_Uchiha Sasuke._

Tsunade folds the letter and places it in her drawer.

She sighs.

She returns her gaze back at the two. Naruto sat back in the chair, this was a little to much for him to take in. Sakura was just the same.

"Well, judging by your reactions, I guess you two need some time to talk about this." Tsunade was about to get up, but Sakura's questioned stopped her.

"What will happen to him?" Naruto looks at her, then to Tsunade.

"Well, I will let him come back. I'll let him stay and allow his wish. However, he will be punished for what he did. What kind and how badly of a punishment, I don't know."

Sakura nods her head in understanding. She can see that the news is overwhelming for the two because they were quiet. She understood the feeling. They had just heard that their friend is coming back. No matter who you are, no matter how you see your friends, everyone gets this feeling. The feeling of excitement and fear all at once after learning that someone you had thought was gone forever will be back. It was a scary, happy, glad, and terrifying felling. A million questions start to flood your mind. Has he change? Is he okay? What happened to him? So many questions that can't be answered. Tsunade understood this exactly, so she knew they needed to be alone for now until they have sort things out.

"Alright now you two. I want you both to go home and get a good night's rest. Judging by what Sasuke has said, I think he will be here tomorrow afternoon. So go home and rest and be prepared for tomorrow." Tsunade instructed them, to which the two gave her a nod. She watched as Naruto and Sakura slowly made their way out of her office, her face was of concern.

'I hope that this doesn't tear them apart.' She looks to the window after the door closes. 'Sakura, don't break his heart.'

-----------------------------------

It was getting really dark. The two ninjas walked side by side down the empty street, neither one daring to utter a sound to break them away from the fixed trance they were in. Suddenly, the air felt like a stabbing knife as it breezed along, brushing their hair and skin. Naruto saw Sakura shivering from the corner of his eyes and so he unzipped his jacket and placed it around her.

Sakura felt something warm being put on her so she turns to look. She saw Naruto smiling at her as he gently places the soothing material around her freezing shoulders.

"Thank you, Naruto."

"My pleasure, Sakura-chan." He looks into her beautiful green eyes. He could get lost in them. He felt like capturing her in a tight hug and kissing her everywhere. But then a sick feeling he couldn't put a finger on crept in him.

Sakura notices his expression change from joy to an uneasy frown.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" she stops walking to face him, giving him the notion that she was serious.

He couldn't understand why he was feeling like this all of a sudden and he sure didn't like it. One moment he was happy, then the next, he felt like puking. He had that feeling that you get when you feel like something feels terribly off or after doing something wrong and all you could worry about were the consequences. Something like that.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

**"What's wrong with him?" **Inner Sakura asks, she was just as worried.

'I don't know.' Sakura replied, her tone sounded like she was about to cry.

"I don't know, Sakura. I feel like something bad will happen. Something feels off." Naruto replied to her. It was making him irritated that he couldn't figure out why he was feeling like his.

"Naruto, don't worry. Nothing bad will happen." she tried reassuring him, it work a little, only a little. "I promise you, I won't let anything bad happen to you." Sakura moves in to give him a hug as she slowly rubs his back. "It's okay, Naruto. I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you."

Naruto's heart melts. He immediately felt better in her embrace. She just knew the right things to do sometimes. Whatever he was feeling before, it sure as hell was gone now. Naruto returns the hug as he moves his hand around her.

"Are you feeling better now?"

Naruto moves away to smile at her. "Thanks Sakura-chan." She smiles in return.

'I don't like seeing you so sad, Naruto. It breaks my heart.' she thought to herself as they began to walk again.

-----------------------------------

Ino places her shoes beside the door as she steps into her house.

"Hey, mom, I'm home."

"Hey dear," her mother replied back, "there's dinner on the table if you want any. Your dad and I already ate."

"No thanks mom, I'm not hungry. I think I'll just go on to bed." Ino made her way up the stairs.

"Okay dear, goodnight."

'What's wrong with you, Shikamaru?'

Ino reached her room soon after. Twisting the knob, she walks into a dark, unlighted room. Ino felt for the switch so she could turn the lights on.

'Found it!'

She walks over to her bed and lies down.

_"He left you to walk home alone?"_

Ino remembered what Choiji had said earlier.

'Gah. What does he know! Sai loves me, he's just shy.' she tried making excuses, but it wasn't really working. So she tried thinking of something else, but that didn't work. All she could think about was Choiji's comment and Shikamaru's actions lately.

'Shikamaru.'

Soon her eyes were becoming heavy as sleep took over her. At first she tried to fight it, but she was really tired. Not long afterwards, Ino fell asleep.

------------------------------------------

The silence of night was comfortable, but Naruto was never the type to enjoy quiet moments for too long.

"So, do you think he changed?"

She turns to look at him.

"I don't know. Maybe he has, maybe not. No way to tell for sure."

"Not till tomorrow at least." Naruto added.

"Yeah. I can't believe it. He's really coming back isn't he?" Sakura asked herself mostly, still unable to grab hold of the idea.

"Yeah, he's coming back."

'He's coming back.' Naruto repeated to himself.

"It's been so long," he continued. The two enjoyed the silence that followed. Each thinking of the Sasuke they remember.

They arrived at the front of Sakura's house. It was almost eleven, Naruto was scared that he may have gotten Sakura in trouble.

"I'm sorry Sakura. It so late, will your parents be angry at you? I should apologize to them."

"It's okay Naruto, they wouldn't mind too much. I'll just tell them the truth that Tsunade called us in her office."

"Are you sure?" Naruto looks at her, making sure she wasn't trying to be brave.

"I'm sure Naruto." She said honestly, to which Naruto nods an 'okay.'

Naruto leans in to give her a kiss goodbye. It was sweet and tender, but it was also short lived. Naruto was pulling back when Sakura wraps her arms around him. This made him feel weak as she held him.

"Naruto," Sakura looks up, "I love you."

Naruto smiles at her and was about to say something but she beat him to it.

Sakura has now placed her hands on both sides of his face, caressing the whisker marks on his cheeks.

"I love you." She said again, as if she was reassuring him that she wasn't just saying words. She looks deep into his eyes that expressed so many feelings at the moment. She knew he felt lost, scared that maybe she wasn't true to him. She wanted to be mad at him for doubting her, but she felt like he had the right to be. Just means that he really loves her. Sakura pulls him down again for a kiss. They break away and Naruto places his forehead on her's as he said,

"I love you too, Sakura-chan." 'I love you so much. I always will...but sometimes it just hurts too much.'

"Now go on inside and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." She looks at him one last time before she smiles and walks away.

"Goodnight, Naruto," She turns around as she said those words, "I love you."

"Goodnight." Naruto watches as the door closes in front of him. 'I know that what you say is true, Sakura-chan. I just don't know if you,'

He starts walking away into the night,

'love HIM more?'

-----------------------------------

**End of Chapter 2**

**Okay, so maybe that was a little anticlimactic. But I felt that it was the best choice out of the others I wrote.**

**Again, thanx for those who read and reviewed.**

**AND THANX TO the-everglow.**

**I feel like I'm rushing this too much.**

**Feel free to tell me what you think or want. **

**Well, I'm going now. BYE**

**Rena.**


	3. A Question Unanswered

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWorrior

Disclaimer: Okay, if all of the following happens to be true, then you would know I own Naruto. Okay, Naruto and Sakura are married with a little one on the way. Sasuke wouldn't be so cold. Hinata could say more than, "N-Naruto-kun." (Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with Hinata, she's nice) And maybe Itachi likes Sakura (the pair is so unlikely that it's tempting).

A BIG THANKS for those who reviewed.

templar132: You're right, Naruto was the only one worrying on the last chapter. But see, I felt like I should explain his feelings first, then Sakura's. Also, I think it's better that the readers see things in Naruto's pov. It's just that I didn't want to get too angsty, which is a problem because this story is screaming out angst. But THANKS for pointing that out, it helped.

PinkYellowRoses: THANK YOU!

full-metal-sousuke: hehe, sorry. Hope this makes up for it. (I actually plan to have a seperate conversation for them, but I didn't put it in here).

Ambs1516: Hmmm...hmmm...I'll reply when the time comes...

darnod: Thanks. I don't like it when it takes a month to update a story, so I try my best to UD fast.

dbzfan: thanks : )

Advent Griever: You'll find out soon enough.

As you may have realized, there is very little clue, or none at all, as to how Sasuke will be once he killed his brother. Is he nicer? Just as cold as ever? I don't know. So, be warned, I may have to twist some things for the story and how I (note, ME) PERCIEVE Sasuke.

**Summary: Sasuke comes back to Konoha. Naruto hides his feelings. Sakura is indecisive. Sorry about the couple summary on last chap, I was just scarying you guys. Narusaku, Sasusaku, Naruhina?**

Onward...(I need a new line '--)

'thoughts'

"talking"

_**Inner-self**_

_Flashbacks_

_I wish I could make you truly happy_

_So you would never want to leave this place..._

**Previously...**

_"Goodnight, Naruto," She turns around as she said those words, "I love you."_

_"Goodnight." Naruto watches as the door closes in front of him. 'I know that what you say is true, Sakura-chan. I just don't know if you,'_

_He starts walking away into the night,_

_'love HIM more?'_

**----------------------------------------**

**Chapter 3: A question.**

**--------------------------------------**

The birds were chirping as the sun once again grazed across Konoha. It was a beautiful day. The leaves were starting to fall from the tree's, scattering on the ground. It was getting colder each day, marking the begging of fall.

Autumn, the season of hard work. Already villagers were beginning their daily task, getting a head start for the day. Husbands going to work to provide food for the family. Wives buying the necessary food and doing daily chores as it is expected of their domestic duties. The children were up and raking the leaves, only to start again because they couldn't help but scattering it all over again. The entire village was on the move.

However, this was not the case for Sakura. She has always been cranky whenever she had to wake up from a peaceful slumber. The brave, but stupid alarm clock that dared to wake her only got what was coming to it as Sakura picked it up and threw it across the room.

'GAH!!Always doing that. Why do I even bother to have it on?'

**"Be quiet woman, I want to go back to sleep." **Inner Sakura yelled from the 'bed' she was lying on inside Sakura's mind.

Sakura did just that as she too stagnantly dozed off. She was almost dreaming again, but yet another brave idiot woke her up.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto was right beside her bed shaking her awake. "WAKE UP! I want to go somewhere." He screamed the first part but lowered his voice for the rest.

"NA-RU-TOOOO!!!" Sakura punches his on the face so hard that he flew out of the window, down her house, and landed on hard ground. There he stayed for a minute as his body twitched from her punch.

'What? I don't get it. I was just trying to make sure she was up.' Naruto fidgeted from his lying position on the ground.

Sakura tried going back to sleep, but it was useless. She was already awake.

**"AHHH!!"** Inner Sakura was just as cranky in the morning.

Sakura decided that she might as well get up. She walks over to the window and sticks her head out.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. Could you just get back up here?"

"Sure, Sakura-chan. Whatever you say." Naruto painfully gets up and jumps up back into her room.

Sakura the hugs him, "I'm sorry again." Naruto wraps his arms around her. Then he felt something tickling him, he looks down to see Sakura healing him.

"There, all fixed." Sakura smiles at him when she suddenly felt something against her lips. Her smile only widens as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"mmmm'

**"Now if only this is what we woke up to very morning, I wouldn't mind getting up."**

Sakura breaks the kiss to ask Naruto something. "How did you get in my room anyway?"

"Oh, well your mom let me in. I should have probably listened to her when she told me to be on my guard." Naruto laughs as Sakura playfully punches him.

She leans on him and places her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

"Hey, Sakura-chan,"

"mmm"

"Breakfast?" Naruto felt her giggling against him and that made him smile.

"Hehe. Okay, just give me a moment to change." Sakura lets go of him and walks towards her closet. She grabs a few clothes and heads to her bathroom.

Naruto was left alone in her room. He could hear the sound of running water in the bathroom.

He walks over to her bed and sits down.

'Smells like cherry blossoms in here.'

Naruto looks around, inspecting her room. It was his first time in there.

He spotted her closet, beside it was a drawer and right across it was the remains of what once was an alarm clock. He looks to his left and sees a table and right beside it was her mirror. He gets up and walks towards it. As he was walking, he spotted something on her desk.

It was a picture of team seven.

Naruto walks over to the table and picks up the picture frame.

'We were so young back then.' In the middle of the picture was Sakura, with Naruto on her left and Sasuke on her right.

'Sasuke' He sighs.

'I was suppose to save you, teme. For her.'

Even now he still feels hurt. Hurt that Sasuke was her first love. Maybe the love of her life. Sure Sakura was with him now, but that could always change in an instant. Nobody can forget their first love. Sure she said she loves him, but maybe not enough to stay with him once he's back. He wanted to be happy, for him and her, but that's always easier said than done. Naruto knew that he wants Sakura to be happy, no matter what, her happiness was all he could think about.

Even if it means that she would be Sasuke's.

He prepared for the worst. That was all he did the night before, preparing for the worst.

"Naruto," he snaps out of his thoughts, "I'm ready." Naruto turns to look at her while he placed the picture back to its position.

"Okay, Sakura."

--------------------------------------

Somewhere outside of Konoha.

A raven-haired man was walking down a covered path. He has holding a small bag on his right shoulder as his right hand gripped it. His left hand was tucked nicely in his left pocket. The guy was wearing a white shirt and black pats. He walked slowly, his posture proud.

He was finally coming back home. After so many years, he has accomplished what he wanted to the most. Killed his brother and avenged his family's murder.

He was a little scared of coming back, but at the same time, he was excited.

'I wonder how everyone is?'

He had thought about this often when he was away and training. He could never admit it, but he was home sick. He missed this little village more than he cared to think. He missed all of it, everyone.

He missed the rookies. Lee's obnoxious and youthful self. Neji's doomed expression. Kakashi-sensei and his perverted books. Naruto and his idiotic ways. Yes, he had to admit, he really did miss the fool.

He was his rival and friend. They would challenge each other to their limits to see who can surpass the other. They joked around, teased each other the way brothers do.

After he left for power, he was no longer able to do these things. He wanted to come back, but his desires for power overtook him.

He understood now that what he chose to do was not the greatest choice in the world. But nobody is perfect. He can't help that now.

All he wanted was to complete his goal and maybe, just maybe, redeem himself.

He has to rebuilt friendships that were destroyed. Apologize to many people, regain his status as a devoted Konoha ninja, which might be hard, and maybe be allowed to be ANBU. But most of all, he felt that he needed to heal a broken heart.

'Soon, I will see you again and this time, I will not screw up.'

Sasuke continues his travel down to the road back to his home.

--------------------------------------

"Thanks for breakfast, Naruto." Sakura said to him. The two were walking down the sidewalk after eating a nice breakfast.

"Always my pleasure, Sakura-chan."

Sakura leans her head on his shoulder as they walked down the street. The girl wanted to tell him she love him, but something was making her hold back. Something deep within her that she couldn't let go. Something strong.

**"Why are you feeling hesitant all of a sudden?" **

She just looks down. She didn't know. All she could do was keep walking down the road with Naruto right beside her.

**"You still love him, don't you?" **Inner Sakura asked with much pity. How could someone go through all that she has and still have the same feelings. Sasuke tore apart her heart and didn't even apologize.

'I don't know for sure. It's like all of a sudden, now, all those feelings I have buried for him came back.' Sakura was searching deep within herself. 'But, I can say that I do not feel the same way. It's just not the same anymore.'

**"But given time, you probably could form feelings for him."**

'Probably.'

--------------------------------------

It was almost around three in the afternoon. Soon, Sasuke would be back.

"Sakura, I think we should go to the gates now." Naruto looks down on her. She was resting her head on his lap. Her heart suddenly skips a beat.

'He's going to be here soon.' She felt excited all of a sudden. She couldn't control herself.

After so many years, she was finally seeing Sasuke again.

"Okay, let's go Naruto."

---------------------------------

Shikamaru was lying on his bed while looking outside his window.

Honestly, he should be outside doing something for Tsunade, but he just wasn't in the mood. It was such a beautiful day and he wanted to spend it the way he saw fit.

'I wonder if there are clouds out? I can't see any from here.'

His thoughts were cut short by a sound coming from close by. He manages to concentrate enough to figure out that it was the sound of a fist hitting a wood.

'Gah!'

The knocking continues.

"I'm coming!" Shikamaru forces himself off the bed and to his living room. The knocking only continued even after he had said he was on his way.

"Shikamaru, open up!"

'I know that voice. W-what? Why is she here?'

Shikamaru finally arrives at the door. He moves his hand on the knob and pulls the door open.

"Hey, Ino."

--------------------------------

The wind flew by, dragging a few leaves along with it. Not long from now, somebody will make his return.

Naruto is sitting on a bench near the wooden gates that was in front of them. Beside him was Sakura.

The two stared at the double doors. It was getting closer and closer to that time.

Naruto didn't like the silence, so he decided to speak.

"So, do you think he has changed much?" 

Sakura turns to his direction.

"I don't know. I think he might be taller now."

"Probably." Naruto looks back at the gates.

"You know," Sakura gestures her head in a way that asked 'what?', "I can only see him as the twelve year old Sasuke."

Sakura looks into his eyes, "Yeah, I know. That's how I see him too."

"I remember one time," Naruto began, "when I was trying to tell him to come back, he was a little bit different."

She looks at him, telling him to go on.

"He was still with Orochimaru then. He was even wearing the snake's outfit. But, he was different."

"You mean like he was taller?" Sakura was trying to understand him.

"No, I mean yes, he was taller, but he wasn't the Sasuke I know."

"What do you mean?" She was having a hard time understanding him.

"He seemed so lonely." Naruto said with sadness in his voice.

"But he's..."

"I know he's always been alone and lonely and I know that he chose that. But I remember, when he was with us, he was happier. If only a little. Sasuke seemed happy with where he was."

Sakura finally understands what Naruto was trying to tell her. It was true. Even though Sasuke was lonely, he did seem happier when he was with them. Even though he rarely said a word, she knew he was happy. They understood that he was alone in the world, with no one there to help him. That's why they vowed to save him, so they could change that. He was their friend, no mater what.

"I know what you mean."

"Sure he was a little cold towards us, but I felt that he trusted us." Naruto was still looking at the doors.

"When he left," it was Sakura's turn to speak, "I felt so sad." Naruto looks at her with concerned eyes. He knew that even though she love Sasuke, this sad was the same feeling that he felt. The same feeling of betrayal. They felt that they weren't good enough for him to stay.

"But somewhere deep inside of me knew it was going to happen. I just knew it. But, that didn't stop it from hurting."

Naruto puts his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

"Sorry, Naruto."

"Don't be Sakura."

"It's just that," Sakura was interrupted by Naruto.

"I know, Sakura. I know. It hurts me too."

Sakura wipes the tears that were building up in her eyes. She laughs a little.

"Let's not talk about the past anymore, Naruto."

He looks down on her and smiles. 

"Alright." Sakura frees herself from Naruto and stands up.

"Man his taking forever!" She exhaled as she streched her arms.

Naruto chuckles, "Hehe. I know. How long has it been already?"

"Too long."

Naruto was taking aback by the new voice. He shoots his head to the direction it was coming from. He's eyes widen.

Sakura jumps from her standing position. Her whole body shakes. She knows the voice.

------------------------------------------------------

"Ino, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked his friend.

"Can I come in?"

Shikamaru was a little shock to see her, but happy at the same time.

"Oh, of course." He moves to the side, giving her enough space to go in. Ino walks in and Shikamaru closes the door behind her.

It was quiet.

Ino was trying to figure something out in her mind, while Shikamaru just stands there in wonder.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"What's wrong, Shikamaru?" Ino looks up face to face with him. Her sudden question made him uneasy, but he wasn't going to let her know that.

"What do you mean?" He tried to ask her to assert that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Damn it, Shikamaru! Stop lying to me!"

Ino's abrupt statement made him feel guilty.

Well, he wasn't lying to her, he was just not telling her what she wanted to hear.

"I know something is bothering you." Ino moves her head down. "The way that you seemed niggled by anything lately, I know something's wrong. Just tell me, Shika." Ino cried out to him.

Shikamaru felt bad that he was making her feel this way, but he had no other choice.

"Look Ino. I know that you're just trying to help, but there's nothing wrong." He tried to convince her.

"Why won't you tell me?" Ino looked really hurt. "Do you not trust me?"

"Of course I trust you."

'Then why won't you tell me!" Ino was starting to get really mad. Shikamaru was no different.

He wanted to tell her, but he just couldn't. There are rules you just don't break.

"So what if I did tell you, what would you do then?" Shikamaru angrily replied.

Ino was a little surprised by this. "Well, I'd help you."

"That's it? You'd help me?" Shikamaru was trying to make her mad, it was the only way. "What if you can't? Then what?"

"I can help. Just tell me, I will help you!" Ino rushes to him. They were inches away from each other.

"Ino, I think you should just go home." He walks away from her. This was hurting him to do this to her, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. He wanted to tell her, but it was better she didn't know.

Ino was really hurt by what he did. Why is he pushing her away when all she wants to d is be there for him.

"Why?" Ino said, she is really hurt.

"Ino, I'm tired. You should go home."

"FINE. Be like that Shikamaru. All I want is to help you but you push me away. If you want to be like that, then fine!" Ino rushes out of his apartment.

'I'm sorry Ino.'

------------------------------------

The moment was almost dream-like. No one said a word, the wind had died down, and even the birds were quiet.

It has been so long since they had seen each other. So long since they had stood together.

The two looked at their friend, examining him carefully. He changed.

His hair was longer now, just as long as Sakura's. His eyes still displayed a mysterious look in it. Sasuke was indeed taller, maybe taller than Naruto.

His body was well-built, muscles greatly defined.

Sakura noticed that he has replaced his outfit. He was wearing a white shirt, with his family symbol still on the back. His wore black shorts. Simple, just like he wanted.

Sasuke was looking at them as well, doing his own examination. He smiles at them, a weak smile, but nevertheless a smile.

"Hey there Sakura. Naruto."

When was the last time that he said that? He thought that he would never again see his friends, that he was doomed to die alone. But seeing them again gave him hopes that maybe things could be the way they use to be. When they were team 7 and Kakashi as their leader.

They smile back at him.

Sakura was on the edge of crying. She could believe it was really him. So long since she last saw her friend. Naruto was feeling the same way.

Naruto couldn't help but feel happy for this moment. The one they have been waiting for for seven years. Their friend was finally home.

Sakura couldn't hold herself any longer. She runs to Sasuke and hugs him tightly.

"Sasuke, you're really here." She was sobbing now, her emotions getting the best of her. Sasuke places his arms around her. He too couldn't believe it.

"Welcome back teme." Naruto was now beside the two.

"Good to be back, dobe."

-------------------------------------

"So, Sai is my replacement?" Sasuke asked the girl sitting across him. She was on the couch inside Naruto's living room. Naruto was in the kitchen making some hot cocoa for them to drink. After they reunited at the gates, Naruto suggested that they go back to his place. It was getting cold and his place was the closest. So, now here they are.

"Yeah. He's a great fighter. But one rude guy." Sakura was just telling Sasuke about team Kakashi. Their new leader Yamato and the new member Sai.

"Haha, Sakura-chan's just saying that because Sai constantly makes fun of her 'monstrous strength'." Naruto said as he made his way into the living room, balancing the three mugs on hot cocoa on his hands.

"Enough with the monstrous strength already!" Sakura smacked Naruto on head, making him fall down. Luckily, Naruto had placed all three cups on the table.

"Oww, Sakura-chan." Naruto cried on his position on the floor.

"I see you two haven't change at all." Sasuke added as he grabbed one of the cups.

Sakura was immediately beside Naruto.

"Just a little." Naruto added.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. Come on, let's drink the cocoa." Sakura helps him up on his feet. The two made their way back to the seat and sat beside each other.

"So, anything else happen while I was gone?" Sasuke took a sip of the hot delicious gift from above.

Naruto takes one of the cocoas and gives it to Sakura, who gave him a smile in return. He grabs the last one on the table.

Sakura takes a sip before saying, "Well, I'm dating Naruto."

Sasuke suddenly tenses up. His chakra spiked up. The cup he was holding almost shattered into millions of pieces. He was taken aback by this statement. How could it be? She was suppose to be his. Suddenly he felt like jumping across the table and breaking Naruto's head. If he hadn't concealed his chakra, he would have seemed suspicious.

He tried to hide the fact that he did not like that they were a couple.

"Oh, well about time!" He lied as he took another sip of cocoa, but really he was enraged.

Naruto looks at his friend. Sasuke simply drinks his cocoa. He seemed calm.

_'Maybe he really doesn't like her after all. Then that means I don't have to worry. But Sakura...' _Naruto thought to himself.

The three ninjas stayed about two more hours just catching up. Sasuke had told them about his escape from Orochimaru and finally finding his brother. He had actually challenged him when he saw him, but lost. However, the second time he saw them, he managed to finally beat his brother. They also talked about Kakashi, Tsunade, and everyone else. 

It was getting late and Sasuke still had to report to the hokage.

"Well, I guess I have to go." Sasuke gets up and starts to head for the door. "I really did miss you guys."

"We know, Sasuke." Sakura followed him and gave him one last hug. Naruto was just standing beside them.

Sasuke gave them one final look and disappeared, leaving a cloud of smoke.

Naruto closes the door, while Sakura begins to clean up. He walks over to the table and picks up anything she hadn't.

Sakura was washing the cups in the sink when Naruto asked her something.

"Do you still love him?" Naruto knew he was too front about his question, but he had to know. Everything he ever believe could be denied or proved right by her answer. Any doubts that he had will be clearified by her answer. He desperately needed her to answer him.

Sakura was surprised by his question. Though she knew why he had asked, she just wasn't prepared to hear it so soon.

**"Well, do you?"**

"..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**End of Chapter three**

**SORRY about the lack of narusaku in the last two chaps...I'll make up for it.**

**I PROMISE YOU THAT SHE WILL ANSWER HIM ON THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**I'm not saying what the answer is though. Here's a clue. Something happens to someone. : )**

**Also, I know that Sakura was jumping from one emotion to the next, but that's how I see her reacting. **

**And sorry for the lack of descriptions and explanations. I just wanted to show how they feel, or not feel, through conversations.**

**I really feel like I'm not explaining Sakura's side here, so I will do that on the next chap.**

**Please tell me if you like this story. Tell me anything I could work on, I will take any suggestions. Criticism is welcome, it only makes me better (hopefully). **

**One last thing. Considering how I want to write the next chapters, this is not going to have many chapters. But, on the bright side, the chapters are somewhat long.**

**Alright, THANKS again to everyone who reviews.**

**Rena.**


	4. Truly First

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Pokemon.

Thank you for those who reviewed and took the time to read my story.

**SUMMARY: Sasuke is finally back to Konoha and Sakura and Naruto couldn't be happier. But, something feels wrong. Will Naruto be able to figure it out before it's too late? **

**PinkYellowRoses2: Thanks for the review and your support. : )**

**drag-eart: Thankyou.**

**Satyansi420, maxslayer10, and somewei: (lol) No, this will not end as Sasusaku. I promise you that this is Narusaku. PROMISE. If I break that promise, you may attack me with sporks. **

**templar132: I'll answer you next chapter. **

**AdventGriever: Thanks for the review. But I don't know what you meant by the Shikaino thing.**

**TroublesomeShikamaru, Satyansi420, and nick naruxsaku: THANKYOU!!!**

**And I want to thank: DarkwingDuck-L.g.d, deformed beauty, maxslayer10, somewei, uzukun7, and drag-eart.**

**OoOoOoOo**

Onward defrosted tuna team...!!!

----------------------

**Previously**

----------------------

_"Do you still love him?" Naruto knew he was too front about his question, but he had to know. Everything he ever believe could be denied or proved right by her answer. Any doubts that he had will be clarified by her answer. He desperately needed her to answer him. _

_Sakura was surprised by his question. Though she knew why he had asked, she just wasn't prepared to hear it so soon._

_**"Well, do you?"**_

_"..."_

--------------------

**Chapter 4: Truly First**

--------------------

It was nighttime and only the moon's light brightened the dark streets. There was only a few stars out, but enough to make it a beautiful night.

"Naruto," Sakura stopped what she doing to wipe her hands dry. "I..." She turns to him, but was looking down at the ground.

"Actually, I don't want you to answer that." Sakura looks up at him. Her face showed concern and confusion. "At least not now."

Naruto walks over to her and wraps his arms around her. "I want you to think about it, and when you have an answer for me, and it must be true. You're answer has to be honest otherwise I won't accept it." He pulls away and looks at her. "So, when you think that you have the answer, then tell me then."

Naruto smiles at her, "Also, know that whatever you say or do, I won't hold it against you. I will respect what you want."

Sakura smile back and nods her head in understanding before she returned the hug.

'Thank you, Naruto'

---------------------

A man was standing on top of a building, right across Naruto's apartment room.

His tall figure casted a shadow.

"Everything is going as planned." He said as he fixed his glasses. "I must say, I didn't think it would be so easy."

--------------------

"You do realize that you will not get another mission for a very long time." Tsunade said to the boy in front of her. She was currently holding a profile data on her hand.

It was silent for a while before the boy finally answered.

"I know, I expect nothing more than this." Sasuke coolly replied as he sat on the chair.

Tsunade just nods her head and returns her attention on the anbu data on her hand. She folds it open and skims through it one last time before she finally returned it in her drawer.

"Well, that's it."

Sasuke gets up and nods, he was on his way out when Tsunade's voice stopped him.

"Don't forget, you're to report to Ibiki tomorrow to be interrogated." 

Sasuke just stands there taking in what she was saying. Not too long ago, she had just told him that he was to be interrogated by none other that Morino Ibiki himself. It was the order of the elders and the Hokage's advisors that he be put under Ibiki's torture and interrogation unit. Tsunade had warned him that she could not control just how far Ibiki would go, so she told him to prepare for the worst.

"I know. I will be there."

----------------------

"Hey mom." Sakura walks in her house. She slips out of her boots and walks toward the living room.

"Hey dear, how was your day?" Her mother asked her as she sat on the chair reading a book.

"It was," Sakura tried to look for the right word, "long."

Her mom just gives her a nod, never looking up from her book.

"I heard that Sasuke came back today."

Sakura froze at the sudden mention of Sasuke's name.

'Sasuke'

She still had to figure out if she was still in love with the guy. She was suppose to be thinking things out.

"Honey, are you okay?"

Sakura snaps out of her thoughts to look at her mother.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Just a little tired." Sakura tried to smile, but she was so uncomfortable with everything right now to even stand. "I'm going to bed now, goodnight mom."

"Goodnight."

Sakura picks up her feet and slowly went up the stairs to her room.

**"So, umm, what will you do?" **Inner Sakura was getting anxious to know what Sakura would do.

'I don't know. What could I do?'

**"Huh. Interesting."**

'What do you mean by that?' Sakura asked her as she slowly opened the door to her room.

**"Why do you always make things harder than what they are?"**

Sakura was confused. What was she taking about?

'What do you mean?'

**"Why do you always find a way to make everything so complicated when the answer has always been in front of you?"**

'What are you talking about. I don't make it complicated, it IS complicated.' Sakura walks to her bed and lays down.

**"Why do you do this to yourself?"**

Sakura was getting really impatient with herself.

'Where are you going with this?'

**"You know what? I could simply make everything the decision for you, but you need to sort this out yourself."**

Sakura finally got the clue that Inner Sakura wants her to choose between Sasuke and Naruto. 'Okay, I understand now. Let's see..'

---------------------

A girl rushes in her room and slams the door. She didn't care that it was late and that people were sleeping, she was really angry.

She bolts to her bed and forcefully slams her body on it out of pure frustration.

'Why is he doing this?' she thought to herself. 'I try and help and he kicks me out of his house. Just what is his problem anyway.'

Ino, even though it's contrary to fact, does care for other people, sometimes. When it comes to her friends, she will be their to the end.

'I don't even care. He could just be lazy and stupid all he wants.'

No seriously she cares. She's just angry.

Ino turns to the side. She looks at the picture of squad ten.

'Oh who am I kidding. This is bothering the life out of me.' She thought as she looks at the picture of Shikamaru.

'That's it, you're not getting rid of me that easy.'

Ino thought before she finally drifted off to sleep.

---------------------

Sakura was twisting around, trying to look for a nice position so she could think things through.

**"Let's start with Sasuke." **Inner Sakura suggested.

Sakura had by now found her comfortable position. She was lying on her back and her head was rested against a pillow. Sakura was soon lost in thought.

'Sasuke...well,'

Sakura looked back on the days she chased him around. Always trying to get him to go out with her. Although he had never acknowledge her, she kept her pursuit.

To her, Sasuke was a epitome of what a guy is.

Tall, dark, and handsome.

To Sakura, Sasuke was the guy of her dreams. He was mysterious, shy, and brooding. Always acting tough. So it was only natural that she falls for him, along with seven hundred other girls. She set her mind on the pursuit of this guy. Slowly, her small crush developed into something more.

When she heard that she was to be in Sasuke's team, she thought that she would die out of excitement.

_'This is my chance. Now I will make him fall in love with me.' _She would often think every morning before she goes to meet her team.

Although her admiration of him is not reciprocated, she still followed him around. Making him sweets, asking him on dates, doing what any other twelve year old girl would do to the boy they like.

She would make sure she was on her best every time she was around him. He was everything to her. He was her first love.

_"Don't go Sasuke."_

_"Take me with you."_

_"I'll scream if you leave!"_

Sasuke had always been cold to her, she knows that.

_"You're annoying."_

But she didn't care about that. She always told herself he was just like that. That he just needed to spend more time with her.

During the chuunin exams, all she could worry about was Sasuke and how he was doing. Sasuke was always on her mind.

But that was then, this is now.

Sakura's world shattered the day he left. She became gloomy and depressed after that day. Never did she smile the way she used to.

He broke her heart, stomped on it and threw it back at her with no remorse.

Sasuke left for power and left her behind. He left her, willingly and with no intensions of ever coming back.

She was so broken. Everyday since then, she hid her feelings, her sadness so that it wouldn't be so bad. She kept on living with no hopes of ever falling in love again.

But then, someone changed all that.

Just when she thought life couldn't offer her anything worth living for, a loud, unwavering, orange-jump-suit-wearing guy showed her a new light.

He was determined to make her smile again.

Naruto Uzamaki.

The last person she would have thought to fall in love with.

The guy that has always been there for her through thick and thin. Always there when she needs a friend. He has seen her through her worst and her greatest days. When she was lonely and needed to smile, Naruto was there to cheer her up. When she was lost, which she often was, Naruto would always help her find her way. Naruto. Everytime she needed something, it was him that was there. How could she possibly live a day without him.

_"This doesn't concern you Sakura." Sasuke bitterly said to her._

_"Hey, she's just trying to help you, teme!" Naruto barked back. Sakura was just worried about the cursed seal._

Naruto always protected her.

_"No matter what, I swear I'll protect you!"_

He was always looking out for her.

_"Sakura-chan. Don't listen to him." Naruto stops the kunai heading straight for her and immediately jumps in front of her to protect her._

_"I promise you, I will get him back." He said to her._

_"Don't worry, this wound is nothing." Naruto said as he tried to fight the pain on his back._

He never once made her cry. He was always trying to make her smile.

She fell in love with him because of everything he has done for her. Even though it was hurting him as well, he would put a side his pain and make sure she's happy. She saw this and she made a promise to look out for him as well, making sure that he is happy.

They finally were after seven years, but then he came back.

Now that he's back, things will definitely change.

Naruto has never been cold to her. Sasuke was cold to everyone.

Naruto never left her side. Sasuke went to Orochimaru.

Sasuke was her dream for nearly fifteen years.

**"So, who will it be?" **Inner Sakura asked, although she already knew the answer.

Sakura thinks for a while.

Sasuke was her first love.

It was sweet and innocent. The love of a young girl to a young boy. Imaginary and pure to the limit. A fairytale love story that never had a chance.

Naruto, well her love for him is more.

What she had for Naruto was the love of a woman to a man. It was deeper, more than her infatuation with Sasuke.

It was true love.

The love only two people can share with each other and no one else. The type of love that you can only experience once in a lifetime. It was sincere, unconditional, and incandescent. Utterly and unreservedly.

Inner Sakura smiles within Sakura's subconsciousness.

**"So, you love..." **she purposely didn't finish the sentence so that Sakura will finish it for her.

Sakura smiles as well.

"Sasuke..."

----------------------

The sun lights shines through the window in Naruto's room.

He yawns as he gets up and stretches his arms.

He's eyes were still closed, but open enough to notice his 'nobi noodle' poster on his wall.

'Ramen!'

He forces himself off the bed and slowly walks to his kitchen.

His home wasn't messy, but it wasn't clean either. The kitchen was the scariest room. So many packs of eaten ramen still on the table, some where on the floor.

Well, at least the dishes were washed and placed back. He had a rice cooker, but it seems brand new, like it has never been used. Even the pots and pans seemed unmoved.

**"You really ought to learn more cooking skills beyond boiling water."** Kyuubi suggested.

'There's no need, I can survive on miso ramen alone.' Naruto replied as he took out a bowl of instant miso ramen. He goes over to the small electric stove he has and prepared to boil water.

After about three minutes, the water was hot enough. Naruto pours it in the bowl and he walks over to his table.

As he was eating, he noticed something on the edge of the table.

It was Sakura's ninja head band.

Naruto reaches for it after he finished his food.

'I promise you I will respect your choice Sakura-chan.' He grips the head band tighter. 'But, I will fight for you.'

----------------------

Sakura was in her room, combing her hair.

**"So, you telling him today?"**

'Yeah.' Sakura replied, her lips curled up in a huge smile. 'I know now that I love him more.'

**"Yeah, just sad that it took you so long to truly realize."**

'Hey, at least I did.' Sakura said back to her as she placed the comb down. 'How do I look?'

**"Nice, there's no way he'll be able to take his eyes off you." **Inner Sakura said smiling.

Sakura sighs. 'I didn't change anything.'

**"I know."**

Sakura's eye twitches, inner sakura was being sarcastic.

'Whatever.'

Sakura stood in front of the mirror observing herself. Before she knew it, her hand traveled to her face, tracing a spot on her cheek.

'Sasuke.'

_**"So, you love..." **__she purposely didn't finish the sentence so that Sakura will finish it for her. _

_Sakura smiles as well._

_"Sasuke...what are you doing here?" Sakura was shocked to see Sasuke resting on her window._

_"Can I come in?" Sakura was still lying down on her bed, but immediately gets up._

_"S-sure." Sasuke smiles._

_He jumps in her room and walks over close to her. He seemed to be looking around, trying to familiarize himself with her room._

_All Sakura could do was look at him, she was more than shocked to see him this time and at her room no less._

_There was an awkward silence between the two._

_"So, ummm, can I hel-" Sakura began but was cut off by Sasuke._

_"What were you thinking about?" _

_She was taken aback by his sudden interest, but she answered anyway._

_"Umm, not much really, just reminiscing." She replied, still sitting down on her bed._

_Sasuke simply looks at her._

_For a while the two were just looking around, not saying a word. The graceless silence was unnerving. Sasuke just stood there looking around, while Sakura sat waiting for him to talk._

_**"Why isn't he saying anything?"**_

_'This is Sasuke remember?'_

_Inner Sakura blinks twice, __**"Right. So you should probably start the conversation."**_

_Sakura took her suggestion._

_"So, um, how are you feeling?" Sasuke turns to her._

_"Fine."_

_"You found a place to stay at yet?"_

_"No." Sasuke said quickly and toneless. _

_**"For the love of Kami, can he say more than one word!" **__Inner Sakura was really annoyed that his conversational skills has not change. _

_'He was talking when we were at Naruto's.' Sakura reminded her. 'So, maybe he's just uncomfortable.'_

_**"Or he is still un-conversationable."**_

_"Listen, Sakura."_

_Sakura snaps out of her thoughts to turn to him._

_"I'm listening." Sakura turns to listen._

_Sasuke takes a deep breath before he finally says, "I just want to..."_

_Sakura didn't say a word, but kept her gaze on him, indicating that he should go on._

_"I want to say sorry." Sasuke said still as dull as ever._

_**"Whoa, didn't see that one coming."**__ Inner Sakura said as her head tilts back in disbelief._

_"Sasuke-" _

_"I am sorry." He cut her off. _

_Sakura couldn't believe it. Here was Sasuke in front of her, in her room, telling her that he was sorry. Sorry for what she didn't know exactly, but the simple thought that he would actually say sorry was enough for her. Sasuke was never the type to express what he feels to people, so she knew this must be hard for him._

_"It's okay, I was never mad at you." Sakura said sweetly._

_Sasuke looks at her before he moved towards the window again. _

_"I'll just see you tomorrow."_

_Sakura got up to wave goodbye at him and so she could close the window once he's gone._

_"Bye." _

_Then she felt something touch her cheek. Sasuke pulls back and disappears into the night._

_Sakura was left dumbfounded in her room. Sasuke had just suddenly kissed her on the cheeks._

**"We should probably just keep this between us. No need telling Naruto and getting him upset." **Inner Sakura offered her. She knew Naruto would get jealous and probably hate Sasuke for the rest of his life if he ever found out about that. **"It's not like you cheated, you just happened to be standing there and he just so happens to lean in, right?"  
**

'Right.'

Sakura looked at herself one last time before he headed out of her house to Naruto's.

-----------------------

Naruto was sitting down on his living room couch. He had no missions and no money for ramen, so he had to stay home. He though about going to Sakura but decided against it. So he just sat there thinking.

'I wonder if Sakura has an answer by now.' He thought.

'The more I think about it, the more terrified I get.' Naruto slaps his forehead. 'Why did I even asked her that?'

'Now she's probably remembering all her times with Sasuke and falling in love with him again.' Then something hit Naruto.

'AHHH. What if she chooses him!'

**"Great job, you probably drove her away."** Kyuubi decided to say just to make him miserable.

'Oh no!' Naruto said frantically.

**"Why are you panicking now? Weren't you the one who said 'I will respect your choice' to her?" **Kyuubi was having fun torturing him, but at the same time scared. He really did like Sakura and would hate to look for another mate.

'You're right. I can't panic. She'll pick me, I know it. Right? She'll pick me right?' Naruto asked him desperately.

**"Stop being so hysterical. You're annoying me."**

'But what if she chooses him. Oh Kami, what have I done?' Naruto was emotionally unstable right now. 'Oh no, what if she leaves me?' He was on the verge of crying.

Kyuubi just shrugs his shoulders.

'NO. I have to remain calm and collected. I can't let her see me like this.'

Naruto's thoughts were cut by the sound of someone knocking.

"Hey, Naruto. It's me."

'Sakura!'

Naruto stands up and walks to the door.

'Calm and collected. Calm and collected.'

He takes a long breath.

Then opens the door.

"Hello, Sakura-chan. Why don't you come in?"

Sakura gave him a funny look, as if trying to figure out who this person standing in front of her was.

"Naruto, you okay? Your shaking."

'Calm...and...collected.'

"No, I am just wonderful today Sakura. In fact, I have never felt better in my life, hehe." He said calmly yet frantic. That got him another funny look from her.

Naruto closes the door behind him and follows Sakura to the couch.

"How was your day?" Sakura asked him, trying to start a conversation.

"Not yet over." He carefully says. "Your's?"

"It's been interesting so far." Sakura said as he nod her head along.

"Listen, Naruto, about last night."

'Oh shit.'

"I want to say that..."

'here it comes.'

"Sorry."

Naruto's very essence and soul seemed to die and fade away. She had said sorry to him, meaning that she was sorry that she had to leave him. Sorry for ever giving him the wrong idea when she said she loves him but really loves someone else more. Naruto felt his heart sink and he's body suddenly felt like a million tons.

"I shouldn't have left last night and sorry for not telling you this earlier and truly meaning it."

Alright, now Naruto is confused. What is she saying. Why was she sorry for leaving and not saying something? What in the world is going on.

Naruto looks up at her, looking deep in her eyes and trying to figure out the hidden meanings in her words. She look beautiful. Her eyes were telling him so many things that he couldn't understand it. She didn't look sad, she looks happy. She seemed to be glowing from where he was looking.

"Naruto, the truth is that I love you more than anything else in this world."

Naruto's heart stopped beating, he's ears stopped functioning, and his entire body was tranquilized by her words. He's mouth was gaped open.

"In all honestly, Naruto. You made me fall in love with you and gave me more than I could have ever wished for." Sakura moves in closer to him.

"You never gave up on me, always cheering me on." She moves even closer.

Naruto's heart started to move again, only it was moving faster and faster by the second.

"You have always been there for me and never once did you denounce your for feelings for me." Sakura stops moving to look down. "Even when I treated you like crap, you never once hated me. You always protected me." She looks up to him with teary eyes.

Naruto moves to her.

"You understood my pain and healed it. You made me smile again, gave me hope that just because your heart is broken, doesn't mean it's not capable of loving someone else." 

Naruto was so overwhelmed by her words that he couldn't say a single word. He just listened to her pouring her heart out to him. Him, not Sasuke, not anyone else. She said this honestly.

"Just because Sasuke is my first love, doesn't mean that your second in my heart." Sakura was starting to cry.

Naruto places his hands on her shoulders.

"Sakura, don't cry." Of course Sakura just started crying.

"No, there...h-happy...tears" She hiccupped her way through the sentence.

Naruto was the happiest guy alive right now and nothing could change that. Sakura had just told him that there was no one else more important to her that him. He wanted to hear her say that so badly.

He's heart leaps in joy and he wanted to cry.

Naruto launches and her and kisses her.

It was forceful and full of passion. He held her tightly around him, not letting her go, telling the world that she was his.

Sakura's tears felt warm against his face. She was playing with his hair, tugging and brushing it. He trembled at the feeling.

So many emotions were raging through them.

Naruto's kiss was bruising, but it seemed Sakura didn't care. He wanted to go so much further, letting go of all reason and just getting lost in her embrace.

Naruto felt her tongue, so he lets her in. She attacked his tongue and wrestled it, moving from there to the roof of his mouth.

Naruto moans at the thrilling sensation and Sakura's quiet whimpers only excited him more.

He cupped her cheeks and pulls her in deeper.

He wanted to give her the same feeling so he plunges his tongue into her, earning him a groan. He messes with her hair as he pulls her down on the couch.

She was on top of him as he continued his ministrations. His hands travels from her hair to her back, softly caressing it. Sakura was feeling his stomach and moves upward, placing her hands on his chest. Soon Naruto got tired of just kissing her on the lips, so he moves. He trails wet kisses on her cheeks and down to her neck. There he stayed a while and he nibbled and enjoyed her.

Sakura was moaning louder and louder, getting Naruto so aroused and energized.

Sakura breaks away from him. She was straddling him as he lied on the couch. She starts unbuttoning her shirt.

"Sakura, are you sure?" Naruto asked her, making sure that she knew what she was doing.

She leans down and kisses him on he lips, "I'm sure." Naruto didn't say another word.

She continues undoing her shirt as Naruto helped her.

----------------------------------------------

A man was walking down a roads, his hands tucked in his pocket. The path he was walking down on was empty, only him and the trees.

He continued his stroll down the road.

Suddenly, there was a poof of smoke and a tall guy appeared in front of him.

He fixes his glasses.

"Do you have it?" The guy who was walking down the street asked him.

"It's right here." The silvered haired guy pulled out a little bottle from his pocket. "Now, don't go using it in one place, it took me a while to find it."

"Will it work?"

"No way to know for sure unless you try. The guy said that it may take a while to kick in, so be patient, otherwise you will ruin it." He said as he fixed his glasses. "One more thing, we may have a problem."

The guy looks to him, "What do you mean?"

"It seems that we underestimated the girl's feelings."

"I understand, you know what you have to do." He said to him before he starts walking away again.

The silver-haired man was left alone standing in the middle of the road.

'This should be fun, I do enjoy making people suffer.' He thought to himself before disappearing.

-----------------------------

**End of Chapter 4.**

**So how was that?**

**Longest chapter so far.**

**I had to stop on the narusaku stuff since this is rated T.**

**Naruto: I was having fun, I can't believe you would stop that.**

**Sakura: Yeah!!**

**Rena: Ummm, sorry?**

**Ash?**

**Naruto and Sakura: ...**

**Ash: Umm, isn't this pokemon?**

**---------------------------**

**I have nothing more to say, so just leave a review telling me what you think and/or want.**

**Bye**

**Rena.**


	5. A Waking Agony

Look At Us Now  
By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: You feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day. You teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

**Summary: Sasuke is finally back and Naruto and Sakura couldn't be happier. But, something is not right, will Naruto be able to figure it out before he loses the person most dear to him? Will I ever convince Shonen Jump to give Naruto to me?**

Again, I want to thank those who reviewed and read this ff story. I really appreciate it. tears

I just want to thank templar132 for volunteering to be my beta reader. Thank You.

Templar132: you're welcome?

**Let us forth to everlasting journey...**

'thoughts'  
"talking"  
Inner-self  
Flashbacks

---------------------

Previously...

_"Will it work?"_

_"No way to know for sure unless you try. The guy said that it may take a while to kick in, so be patient, otherwise you will ruin it." He said as he fixed his glasses. "One more thing, we may have a problem."_

_The guy looks to him, "What do you mean?"_

_"It seems that we underestimated the girl's feelings."_

_"I understand, you know what you have to do." He said to him before he starts walking away again._

_The silver-haired man was left alone standing in the middle of the road._

_'This should be fun, I do enjoy making people suffer.' He thought to himself before disappearing._

-------------------------

**Chapter 5: Imminent Despair; A Waking Agony.**

------------------------

Sasuke walked into a room. It was empty, nothing but a single chair in the middle and a table right across from it. The room was dark and the windows were barred shut.

"Alright, you can let him go." A tall man with two scars on his face said.

The two ANBU that were holding Sasuke stepped back and closed the door behind them. Only Sasuke and the man were left in the room.

Ibiki motioned Sasuke to sit down in the only chair occupying the room.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Ibiki was holding Sasuke's profile data on his hand as he surveyed it. Sasuke noticed a glass of water sitting on the table. "Says here that you left this village and went to Orochimaru, on your own free will."

Sasuke kept his expressionless gaze on Ibiki.

"You know, that's a high crime in Konoha. Treachery is not tolerated." Sasuke didn't say anything. Ibiki moved closer to the chair. He leaned down face to face with him, "If it wasn't for the fact that the elders want to save your clan, you would be screaming in pain by now."

Sasuke wasn't intimidated.

Ibiki pulled back and walked to the table.

"Alright, Uchiha, what are you up to?" Ibiki questioned him.

Nothing.

"Someone like you, especially after killing someone who may have been the strongest person alive, wouldn't need Konoha." Ibiki turned around to look him in the eye.

There was a moment of silence.

"I simply want to complete my second goal." Sasuke finally said.

"And that is?"

There was a knock on the door. Ibiki walked over to it and opened it.

"Tsunade wants you to report to her office immediately after this." A guy wearing a cat's mask said. Ibiki nodded in understanding and closed the door.

He turned to Sasuke and continued.

"Where were we?"

--------------------------

Tsunade is currently drinking sake as a pile of paper work kept growing on her desk.

"Honestly, Hokage-sama, you ought to get moving with your work." Shizune comes into the room with another pile of paper. "Otherwise, you'll be buried in them for months."

"If you're so worried about it, why don't you do it?" Tsunade sits up and places the sake bottle down on her desk.

Shizune shakes her head in disappointment.

There was a sudden poof of smoke as Ibiki appeared out of nowhere.

"Is this a bad time?" He asked.

Shizune looks at her master.

"No, not at all."

"Hokage-sama, please don't forget the papers again." Shizune reminds her one last time before she left the room.

'I'll stop forgetting them if you stop taking my sake!' Tsunade replied in her head.

Ibiki walks forward and sits down on the chair.

"So, how did it go?"

"It wasn't bad, he cooperated most of the time."

"Did you learn anything?"

"Nothing of much importance." Ibiki simply said. Tsunade thinks for a moment.

"Good, good." Tsunade stands up and walks over to the window. "Tell me, though,"

Ibiki turns his head so that he was facing her.

"You didn't have any intentions of hurting him right?"

"Of course not!" Ibiki was surprised that Tsunade would even think such a thing.

"Alright. That is all. You did your job well." Ibiki stands up and bows respectfully before leaving the room.

Tsunade was left in the room, she was thinking about something that seemed important.

"So, how did it go?" A man's voice said from out of nowhere.

'I'm going to need more sake.' Tsunade groaned as she turned around to see Jiraiya.

------------------------

"Naruto, wake up."

Naruto was lying down on his bed, in a deep sleep

"Hey."

He felt someone's arm shaking him awake. The voice was soft, it reminded him of a tender loving mother. How he knew that a mother would sound like that, he doesn't know. It just felt that way. It was sweet and caring. It told him that it would be there no matter what. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with divine beauty. Her hair was flowing along the breeze that entered from the open window. She was softly caressing his hair as she sat beside his bed. Her face was radiating joy and innocence. He couldn't see anything else for the moment, just her and her uplifting presence. He felt like he was looking at an angel as he gazed upon her.

"Hey there." The young girl said ever so softly.

Her beautiful voice practically melted Naruto. It felt dreamlike, surreal.

He carefully got up and rested his back on the head board. He could hear the noises of people as they went about their business. He could see the radiant full tree from his window and he could hear the birds as they sung to each other. It was a bit cold and the bed never felt more comfortable. It was darker than usual due to the heavy rain that flooded Konoha the day before. Naruto could still hear the remains of the storm as each droplet fell from the roof tops to the cold ground.

"What time is it?" He said weakly, still half asleep. He wanted to move his arms so he could hold her, but nothing happened. His arms were paralyzed from the best sleep he had ever had in nearly four months.

"Around ten." The girl softly replied.

It was so comfortable at the moment. Anything and everything only made him want to go back to sleep and just enjoy the rest of the day. But, unfortunately, he had his duties, so he had to get up. Naruto tried moving his heavy body from its cozy position. At first, none of his limbs were responding, so he tried again. Finally, he managed to move his legs.

"I made you breakfast."

He puts all his weight on both his legs and gets up. "Breakfast sounds good right about now." Naruto turned to her. She gives him a smile.

----------------------

"Did you like it?" The angel-like girl in front of him asked.

"I loved it." He had just finished eating a bowl of ramen, along with some eggs and strips of bacon.

The girl gives him a warm smile. "I'm glad you did." Naruto walked over to the girl and gave her a kiss.

Naruto walked over to the living room as she guided him. They sat on the couch, snuggling.

"It's such a nice day. So comfortable." The lovely pink haired girl exquisitely said. Naruto holds her tighter.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." She looked at him, still smiling. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for breaking your heart." Naruto said with all of his pain behind it.

Her smile faded away but came back just as quickly.

"It's okay, Naruto," she began, "I know now that you only did it for me."

Naruto hugs her even tighter if it was even possible.

"I missed you so much!" He feverishly said, ready to cry.

Sakura pats him on the back.

"I'm here, Naruto. I'm here." Sakura said as Naruto cried in her arms.

-------------------

Naruto turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He grabs a nearby towel and wraps it around his lower body as he walks toward the mirror. He looks at himself.

He looked tired. His wild messy blonde hair was still wet, his whisker marks already dried, and his body was a little warm from the shower. He looks just like he always does.

But there was something eerie about his reflection that made him cringe in fear.

He looks at the mirror again. This time, he spots a long, thing scar across his side of his abdomen. Naruto runs his finger over it, getting a feel of it.

'I don't remember getting this scar.' He thought himself. It looks as if the scar came from a kunai.

'Why can't I remember?'

He decided it was best he didn't worry about it.

Naruto grabs his clothes and puts them on. He opens the bathroom door and walks out.

It was deadly silent.

He walks over to the kitchen. It was neat, very clean, it looked like it was never used. The dishes where placed in covers, the rice cooker was plugged, but there were no traces that it was ever used. Even the trash can was empty, no hint that thirty cups of instant ramen were once occupying it.

'Sakura-chan must've cleaned it.' That was the only logical explanation he could get out of this situation. Wait a sec, wasn't Sakura just here? He could have sworn she was here. But the place seemed deserted and lifeless. Getting agitated just standing there and thinking, he walks out of the kitchen and into the living room.

In there, it was just as clean. Everything was dusted and everything was placed in the right spot.

"You will kill her, Naruto!" A voice said.

Naruto quickly turns around, but there was no one there. He looks back, there was only the television and his living room decorations. He looks around everywhere, but there was no one except him in the room.

His heart beat jumps two beats faster.

'Maybe I still need more sleep.'

Naruto opted to return to his room. Once inside, he immediately goes to his bed and lies down.

He could hear the clock clicking. He turns to look at it. The clock was blurry, no real numbers. Only two hands were ticking, counting down to the moment.

"You're too late."

There was that voice again.

Naruto shot up and looked around. But, he there was no one there. Not a soul but his.

"Whoever you are, you better come out!" Naruto angrily said.

No answer.

His heart beat speeds up more. Suddenly, he felt light headed and uneasy.

"AHHHHH!"

He heard a blood curling scream. It was coming from the living room. But what scared him more was who it sounded like,

"Sakura-chan!"

Naruto jumps out of his bed and rushes out of his room. The hallway was dark, but all he could think about was getting to her.

"Sakura-chan, just hold on, I'm coming!" He screamed.

But no matter how fast he runs, he never seemed to get there.

He felt like he has been running for ten minutes down this short hallway. The walls felt like they were caving in on him as he hurried his pace. The air was suffocating him and the longer he was in that dark path, the more he couldn't breath. His heart beats faster and faster.

He finally reaches the room. What he saw next caused him to become silent.

His heart slowed down dramatically as he approached a body lying face down on the floor.

Thump thump.

His heart beat drowned out everything else as it echoed in his head.

Thump thump.

He walks over to the motionless body.

Thump thump.

His hands find their way onto the back of the girl.

Thump thump.

Naruto couldn't tell if she was dead or alive. All he knows is that he needed to see if this was Sakura. He gathers what little courage he had left and flips over the body.

There was a sudden flash of light as he saw the girl's face.

Naruto frantically draws his hands back as his entire body started to shake uncontrollably. Everything in his body seemed to stop functioning and all he could think of was the lifeless body of Sakura in front of him.

"NO!" He cried out to her. "Sakura-chan, wake up. Don't do this to me."

He begins to shake her, hoping that maybe she will wake up and tell him that she just fell asleep.

Nothing.

Sakura didn't say a word, not a sound came out of her. Her body was motionless except for the fact that he was shaking her body.

"Sakura-chan!" He screamed as tears streamed down his face.

"You did this to her, Naruto. You!" A voice said.

The voice sounded familiar. It wasn't the voice from before. It was another person's.

Naruto flashes his head up. He sees a person standing on the veranda. He couldn't tell who it was, but he had a gutsy feeling that he knows this person.

"I told you to stay away from her, but you just couldn't keep your promise could you? And now you're paying for it." The man said, his voice was emotionless.

Naruto saw a flash of black before the man jumped away from his house. He was left alone in the room with her.

Naruto only cries more knowing that he did do this to her. "Sakura-chan, what have I done?"

He hugs her closely to him. Her face was pale and her body was cold.

"Ahhhh!" Naruto's voice echoed throughout Konoha as he cried from anguish.

----------------

"Ahhhh!" Naruto shoots up from his bed. His body was sweating and at the same time he trembled from the cold, sharp breeze. He grabs his chest where his heart is and clenches it tightly.

Naruto was breathing heavily as the sweat descended his face. He looks around, but couldn't make anything out because it was too dark. He gets up and walks to his window. It was quiet outside, the village was fast asleep. The wind carried the leaves as it blew along.

'What was that?' He was still breathing heavily. 'Was it all just a dream?' He asked no one in particular.

He releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

'It was just a dream.'

Naruto walks back to his bed and lies down. He concentrated on getting back to sleep and soon he was dozing off.

'Only a dream.' He thought. Soon after, he was back to sleep.

The night became quiet as everyone in the village came to rest.

"Sorry, my friend." A pair of blood red eyes closed itself from its scrutinizing gaze as it turned into black orbs.

----------------

End of Chapter 5

---------------

Sorry about the short chapter.

Okay, I know I have a lot to explain because you guys are probably asking so many questions by now.

But if you keep reading, it will all come together and you will see. (And if you happen to catch that it was SPRING in his dream then maybe you'll understand it more.)

cough- foreshadowing -cough

So, umm just leave comments/critisism, tell me what you want. Or if I just totally messed your brain up.

Bye

Rena


	6. Intensions Revealed

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer:

**Summary: Sasuke is finally coming back and Naruto and Sakura couldn't be happier. But, something feels terribly off, will Naruto be able to figure it out before it's too late for those he holds dear. Narusaku, Shikainosai, others if you catch the little hints.**

**As always, I am deeply grateful for those who reviewed and took the time to read my story. Thank you so much.**

**I also want to thank templar132. Without you, this story would be filled with errors. I also want to thank you for giving me some ideas, it really helps.**

**And I don't know what they eat in Japan for breakfast, so I used American foods.**

**That's it for AN's...**

**The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah...**

--------------------

Previously

------------------

_'What was that?' He was still breathing heavily. 'Was everything that just happened all dream?' He asked no one in particular. _

_He released a breath he didn't know he was holding._

_'It was just a dream.'_

_Naruto walked back to his bed and lied down. He concentrated on getting back to sleep and soon he was dozing off._

_'Only a dream.' He thought._

_"Sorry, my friend." _

----------------------

**Chapter 6: Intentions Revealed.**

----------------------

"Hey Sakura." Sasuke ran up to the girl.

Sakura was walking down the sidewalk, heading to her boyfriend's house. "Oh, hey there Sasuke." She turned around to see him catching up with her.

"So, how have you been?" She asked him.

"I can't say that I'm doing great, but things are starting to look up."

Sakura nodded along as she smiled at his reply. "Hey, you want to go get some breakfast?" Sasuke suddenly offered her.

Sakura would have gone with him, but she was already going to spend breakfast with someone else. "Sorry, Sasuke, but I'm already going to get food with Naruto."

Sasuke's face was expressionless, but deep inside he wanted her to go with him. "Okay."

Then an idea popped up in Sakura's head, "Hey, why don't you come and join us?"

He was a little surprised by her invite, but glad nonetheless.

"Yeah, you should come, it will be just like old times." Sakura wanted to bond with him again, after not seeing him for nearly ten years. She thought that having Sasuke there would be good for their team. It would be a great time for the three of them to just talk.

"I shouldn't." Sasuke said modestly, but secretly he just wanted to look good to her.

"No, you should come." Sakura argued.

"Pleeeeasse?" She pleaded as she pouted her lips and curled her eye brows.

Sasuke smiled, achieving what he had hoped for her to do. "Okay, but only because you want me to."

"Alright." Sakura beamed. The two set off for Naruto's.

----------------------

'Do you think it meant something?'

**"I think it does, but I don't know what though."** The Kyuubi answered his question.

Naruto was still lying down on his bed as he thought about the nightmare.

'It felt so real though.' He added. 'I could feel her soft skin and I swear I smelt her scent.'

**"It could have been more than just a dream."**

'What do you mean?' Naruto asked him. He was starting to get terrified, because the more he remembered it, the more real it felt.

**"Well, maybe a premonition, perhaps." **The fox was smart when it came to these sort of things.

'You mean like a warning about the future.'

**"Precisely."**

Naruto contemplated the idea. It would make sense, after all, it was a vision. Sakura isn't dead. Naruto had made sure to call her that morning to make sure she was okay.

He got up and pulled his shirt up. 'No scar.' He remembered the thin scar that had marked his side in the dream. Nothing about the dream was true, not yet at least.

'So, you think it's a message?' Naruto asked Kyuubi.

**"It could be, or it could have been just a nightmare. Either way, we don't know for sure."** The Kyuubi informed him.

'Well, how could we find out?' He asked him, intently waiting for a reply.

**"Hhmmm." **Kyuubi thought for a while. **"Well, you could either talk to Sakura about it and see what she thinks, or maybe Tsunade."**

'I can't talk to Sakura about it, it scares me too much.' Naruto told him. He didn't want Sakura knowing that, just even thinking about it and looking at her at the same time would be hard enough.

'Tsunade-obachan could probably help me out.' He considered the option. 'Do you have any other ideas?'

**"You could always wait it out and see what happens."** Kyuubi offered as a last resort.

'What? That's a terrible idea!' Naruto yelled in his head.

'Tsunade it is.' Naruto decided that he would just talk to the Hokage about it.

Naruto stopped his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey Naruto." He heard Sakura's voice from the other side of the door.

Naruto completely forgot everything he was just thinking about just by hearing her voice. Just her voice alone made him feel so much better. Naruto was smiling as he got up to open the door.

"Hey, Sakura-chan how are-" Naruto immediately stops talking after he sees Sasuke.

It's not like Naruto is mad that Sasuke was here, he just wasn't use to seeing him at his apartment, and with Sakura no less. Sasuke would never come to Naruto's apartment unless it was important.

"Dobe."

That one word Sasuke always called him, he didn't know why, but it made him feel better. Suddenly, Naruto felt that everything would be okay, that he had nothing to worry about. That for once everything is finally back to the way it used to be.

"Teme! Why are you even here?!" Naruto yelled back. He wasn't mad, the words just came out.

"Sakura invited me, loser!" Sasuke quickly fired back.

"LOSER! Why you..." Naruto extended his arms, getting ready to strangle his long lost rival.

Sakura stood between the two raging friends as she thought to herself that they would never grow up.

'I guess some things never change.' She thought to herself as she shook her head.

"Alright cut it out you two." She tried to break it off.

"He started it!" Naruto accusingly pointed a finger at Sasuke.

"You made it worse." Sasuke said matter-of-factly.

"I honestly don't care." Sakura added in before crossing her arms.

Naruto and Sasuke looked away from each other as they both let out a 'humph.' Naruto knew he wasn't mad at his friend. This was just the way team seven functioned. Naruto would do something, nine times out of ten it was something stupid, and then Sasuke would compliment his stupidity. In turn, Naruto would retort back with something, provoking Sakura to come in and break things off before it got too nasty. This was team seven's endless battle.

Naruto's grin came back.

Deep within him he had missed this. Just the three of them doing what they usually did. He missed Sasuke, the friend he viewed as his rival and his brother.

"Now, both of you stop and behave," Sakura started, being the most reasonable among the three, "otherwise, I will put you both in the hospital."

Both youth's eye twitched and they gulped.

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison.

Sakura smiled, "Good. Now, what do you guys want to eat for breakfast?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak,

"No ramen!" but Sakura already knew what he was going to say before he could say it.

'MAN!' Naruto's facial demeanor seemed to die a little.

'Idiot.' Sasuke thought. He would probably never admit this, but he had missed this as well.

----------------------

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ino." Chouji replied as he munched on his endless supply of chips.

"Don't play dumb," she said, "you know exactly what I mean."

The two were in a restaurant, apparently eating breakfast as they sat there yelling at each other.

"Now spill it!" Ino wanted to know what was bothering Shikamaru, and who better to ask than Chouji.

"Ino, as much as I want to help you in your little investigation," he takes an intake of air, "I can't."

"And why not?" She half asked half yelled. Ino was beginning to get frustrated of just going around in circles, never getting to what she wanted, whatever that was.

Chouji stopped eating for a second. "There are rules in life you just can't break, bonds you must keep, and lives that one must protect."

"What are you talking about?"

"Friendship and life in all its glory."

See, Chouji didn't want to betray Shikamaru by talking about him behind his back. He had to respect Shikamaru's decision for keeping things the way they were. And most importantly, Shikamaru would kill him, bring him back to life, and then kill him again if he talked. So, Chouji decided it was best he kept quiet.

Ino looked like she was about to explode, but she calmed herself.

"Alright, well there are no rules, so you're not really breaking any of them." Ino tried to reason. "Also, Shikamaru doesn't have to know."

He thought about it for a moment. Sure Shikamaru wouldn't know, for now. But he will once Ino does something about it, like avoiding him, then Shikamaru would definitely kill him. However, if he did tell her, she might react positively and ultimately make Shikamaru happy, but then again she might not. Chouji could say it, but...

"In all seriousness Ino," Ino leaned in closer to hear what he had to say, "whatever it is that's bothering him, it's just not my place to tell." He tried to make her understand.

"I mean, would you like it if I go around telling people something about you?" Chouji continued.

Finally, something seemed to hit Ino.

"I guess you're right." Ino looked down, feeling guilty that Choiji was right. It wasn't' her place to ask him something he shouldn't share with other people.

"Oh, hey there Ino."

----------------------

"Almost done." A man was standing in the middle of the room. It was dark and ominous. There were flasks and beakers everywhere, on the left side of the room was a table full of test tubes and burners on it. From the looks of it, it was once a laboratory for who knows what. There were undistinguishable specimens in the jars lining the wall, a number of bones in one corner, and what seemed to be a skeleton chained to the wall.

Kabuto removed the tube from the flame. He grabbed a jar full of powder and, using a tiny scapula, scooped a small bit of it and poured it into the tube.

"Hehe," he laughed maniacally as he mixed the chemicals in the tube, "this is my best work yet."

He stopped for a minute and put the tube back over the burner. "A chakra activated poison, hahaha, it's genius." He said to himself as he laughed wickedly within the dark chamber.

---------------------

Ino looked up at the sound of her name to see Sakura walking into the restaurant, behind her were Naruto and Sasuke. They walked over to Ino's and Chouji's table, where they all sat down.

"Hey guys, getting some breakfast?" Chouji asked from his table.

Before he could get an answer, Naruto was already bombarding the hostess with his orders. "Alright, first of all I want tea. Then ramen, rice, miso, ramen, dango..."

Everyone in the table was staring at him with wide eyes, shocked that he could eat so much.

"And did I mention ramen?" Naruto finally finished. He looks at his friends to see that each and everyone of them were giving him a look, "What?"

Sakura chuckled. "I'll have a hot chocolate and an omelet."

"I'll have the same thing." Sasuke said as he passed a smile across the table to Sakura.

Sakura smiled back at his small gesture. Ino noticed this little exchange between them.

"Hey Sakura, could you come with me to the bathroom."

"Umm, sure."

The two girls get up and headed towards the girls room. The guys were left alone in the room by themselves.

---------------------

"Alright, Sakura I want you to tell me something." Ino began as soon as they stepped into the bathroom.

"Not that I know of, why?" Sakura asked, completely oblivious as to what Ino was talking about.

"I saw those smiles that you two passed to each other, so tell me."

"Tell you what Ino? I really don't know what you're talking about." Sakura said honestly.

Ino considered for a moment that Sakura may really not know what she meant, so she decided to get to the point.

"Are you still in love with Sasuke?"

Sakura was taken back by her suddenness, but wasn't really bothered by it. As a matter of fact, she should have guessed that Ino would ask that, although she was a little late.

"No, I don't love Sasuke in the sense of boyfriend and girlfriend anymore."

Ino was shocked by her answer, but glad as well. "Well, that's good. Now at least you know who you really want."

Sakura chuckles a little, "Yeah, I just found out myself about a week ago." Sakura remembered that night she spent with Naruto. That night when she gave him all of her heart.

**"Just sucks you had to leave so soon." **Inner Sakura decided to add in.

'I couldn't help it, they needed me at the hospital!'

---------------------

"Naruto, I'll just walk home with Ino, okay?" Sakura asked her boyfriend as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Oh, okay." Naruto leaned forward to peck Sakura on the lips. He was pulling back, but she pulled him in deeper to make it last longer.

They would have probably stayed there longer kissing each other, but Ino was nice enough to remind them to hurry up.

"I'll see you later?" He asked her.

Sakura gave him a warm smile in return and one last tender kiss before Ino pulled her away. "Bye, I love you." Sakura yelled out as Ino pulled her along.

'I love you even more.' Naruto said within his head.

"Hey, teme, you want to go train?" Naruto turns around to see Sasuke waiting for him.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto jumped up before running towards the training grounds.

------------------------

"Maybe he doesn't like Sai very much." Sakura offered as a solution to her friend.

"That could be it, Shikamaru does seem uncomfortable around Sai."

"Speaking of, how are things with Sai?"

Ino looked at her friend. They were currently sitting on Sakura's bed, where a bunch of magazines were scattered across the surface.

"Fine." Ino said.

'Fine, that's it? I thought she would be jumping around yelling how great he is.' Sakura said in her mind.

**"Maybe it isn't that great."** Inner Sakura came out of nowhere. Sometimes she gets lonely just sitting within her outer self's mind, so she jumps in her thoughts whenever she can.

'Yeah, probably.' And then it hit Sakura. 'Oh, I get it.'

**"Get what?"** She asked eagerly waiting for the response.

'I think Ino may like Shikamaru, so she's not very happy with Sai.' Sakura discerned.

**"It would explain why she has been avoiding Sai lately, and the fact that she's worried about Shikamaru."**

'Huh, isn't this interesting.' Sakura said amusedly. 'Should we tell her she likes Shikamaru?'

**"Nah, she's bound to find out sooner or later."**

"Hey, Sakura, have you been listening to a word I said?" Ino was waving her hand in front of Sakura's face, trying to snap her back to reality.

"Huh? Oh yeah."

Ino raised one of her eyesbrows, telling Sakura that she didn't believe her.

"Aright, I wasn't." Sakura decided that she would be found out anyway, so she might as well admit it. "Hey, at least I just found out something." Sakura offered her sweetly.

"I don't even care." Ino said, trying hard not to show the interest on her face.

-----------------------

'Damn, he's gotten so much stronger since the last time I fought with him.'

Sasuke avoided a flying shuriken heading straight at him. He was breathing heavily and sweat streamed down his face. He was having hard time keeping up with Naruto.

"Teme, don't tell me you're already tired?" Naruto was trying to stimulate him with rage so he would attack again.

There was no answer.

Naruto looks around the area, hoping to see a glimpse of anything that could be Sasuke. He searched, but there was nothing there. 'He must be hiding from me, trying to get a rest before he attacks.'

Naruto took the time to heal his wounds and clean his shoulder from all the blood.

Then Naruto sensed Sasuke's chakra behind him. Naruto was about to dodge whatever it was he was going to do, but before he could make a move, Sasuke appeared behind him, holding a kunai.

"You shouldn't talk too much, Naruto." Sasuke said as he slithered the sharp blade across Naruto's neck.

There was a poof of smoke and then appeared a shadow clone right beside Sasuke.

'Shit.' Sasuke let go of Naruto as he tried avoiding the other one that just lunged at him. 'He's quicker than I thought.' Sasuke thought to himself as he dodged another shuriken coming his way.

'He can summon a clone that quickly and without me even sensing it.'

Now Sasuke was the one left on the field, searching for his enemy. He heard the bushes rustle on the side, but there was no one there. He looks to the right, but there was nothing there as well. Sasuke looked up and was greeted by Naruto's fist.

Sasuke managed to dodge him, but if he had stayed a second longer, Naruto would have knocked him out for good.

He grabbed another kunai from his holster and threw it at Naruto, who easily blocked it with his own blades.

The two stood there for a moment, panting hard from the workout they were getting.

"I must admit, you have improved so much, Naruto." Sasuke said as he wiped the blood oozing from his cheeks.

"Well, you didn't think I just stayed here in Konoha eating ramen for the last eight years, did you?" Naruto cheekily replied.

Sasuke's lips curved slightly. "I hope not."

The two gathered up the last of their energy as they both rushed at each other.

"Ahhhh!!" They both screamed out while they were running towards each other with their hand clenched in a fist.

Their hands connected to the other's face and they were sent flying in opposite directions.

The two attempted to get up with shaky hands, but fell back down. They were drained from all the fighting.

-------------------

"I'm getting tired, I guess I'll go home now, Sakura." Ino said as she yawned.

"Okay, night Ino."

"Good night." She was still yawning as she jumped off the bed and walked out of Sakura's room.

Sakura was left alone in her apartment. It was quiet aside from the clock ticking on the wall. Sakura wasn't tired or sleepy yet.

Sakura heard Ino say goodbye to her mother.

**"Let's go see Naruto."** Inner Sakura suggested. She was getting bored of just sitting there with nothing to do.

'Alright.'

And with that, Sakura grabbed a coat and jumped out of her window.

--------------------

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Sasuke." Naruto said goodbye to his friend before he walked away.

"Yeah."

Sasuke was left standing on the training grounds by himself.

When Naruto was a fair distance away, Sasuke started walking towards his apartment.

'He's gotten better.' Sasuke thought to himself as he strolled on. He reached a little hill with a great view of Konoha during the night. There he stayed for sometime just admiring the village.

He really did miss this place. The one place where he belonged, where his friends were, where he felt safe again.

"I hope you're not getting soft, Sasuke."

Sasuke turned around at the sudden mention of his name.

"I could say the same for you, Kabuto."

Kabuto smiled as he adjusted his glasses onto the bridge of his nose.

"Did you finish it?" Sasuke asked him.

"It's right here." Kabuto pulled out a tiny bottle where a transparent green liquid could be seen. "I worked hard on this, so don't go wasting it."

Sasuke reached for the bottle, but Kabuto pulled it back. "Remember, you can't screw this up."

"I know!" Sasuke snatched the vial from his hand. "So, what does it do?"

Kabuto smirked. "Basically, it's a chakra sensitive poison."

Sasuke thought for a moment. "Fine."

"Now, can I trust you to do this?" Kabuto asked him.

"Why the hell not?"

"Oh nothing really, it's just that," Kabuto walked a little towards Sasuke, "you seem to be rather close to them, that's all. I'm just worried that you would back out."

Sasuke could only look him in the eyes and say, "I can do it."

"Good. Now, I have to go see someone." Kabuto said one last time before vanishing.

Sasuke was once again left alone. He stood there a while longer just thinking about what he just heard and what he had to do. Soon, he too vanished into the night.

----------------

Naruto walked into his apartment, groaning from the long day.

He set his keys down on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to boil water.

'Oh, I forgot to talk to baachan today,' he remembered that he intended to see Tsunade today to talk to her, 'oh, well I'll just see her tomorrow.'

Naruto took out a mug and poured the boiling water in it. He mixed the coffee and sugar and walks toward his living room.

When he got there, he set the cup on the table and took off his ninja-grade sandals.

He placed his feet on the table as he sipped the coffee.

"How are you, Naruto-kun." A voice from within his apartment said.

Naruto jumped up and searched the room for intruders. "Who's there?" Naruto could make out a tall figure hiding in the dark.

"It's been a long time, but don't tell me you've forgotten me already." The man walks into the light.

"Kabuto! What are you doing here?" Naruto was already tense, waiting for anything to come at him.

Kabuto fixed his glasses on his nose again as he stepped forward. "I just want to talk, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked around, trying to find anything he could use as a weapon, "I don't want to talk to you." There was nothing around that he could use. He has already used up all his shurikens and kunai in the battle against Sasuke, and the only thing threatening in the room was the cup of scalding hot coffee.

"You don't have to," he said as he laughed, "I just need you to listen."

"Why should I?" Naruto returned his attention to the traitor in front of him.

"It's about Sakura."

Naruto's eyes widened in fear.

-----------------------

Sakura was walking down the street, hugging her jacket as she went on. She was heading to Naruto's just to drop by.

"Hey, Sakura, wait up." She turned around to see Sasuke running towards her.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke was finally a foot (0.3048 meters for you metric users) or so from her. "I was just walking around, but then I saw you, so I thought that maybe you would like some company."

"Thanks Sasuke."

The two started walking down the street again. "So, where are you headed?"

Sakura turned to him, "I was just going to visit someone, but I guess it's kind of late, huh?"

Sasuke gave another one of his rare smiles, "Just a little."

They were quiet for a while. "Say, would you like to go get something to drink?" Sasuke offered her.

She was a little shocked by his offer, "Ehh, I really shouldn't. Beside it's too late at night."

"None sense, come on, I know a place." Before Sakura could argue some more, Sasuke was already dragging her.

---------------------

"You have my attention." Naruto said.

Kabuto's smirked. "Good."

He walked toward the couch and sat down. All Naruto could do was watch him, ready for any attack that Kabuto might try to sneak in. Kabuto took his time surveying the room.

"Nice place."

"What are you doing, talk already!" Naruto was getting impatient and more importantly scared of what he has to say about Sakura.

Kabuto looked him in the eye. "Naruto-kun." Kabuto got up again and walked closer to Naruto.

Naruto was holding back the desire to punch him in the face and send him flying out the window, but he had to hear what Kabuto had to say.

"I'll cut to the chase." Naruto stood still.

"Unfortunately, Naruto, I must tell you that you have to break up with Sakura."

"WHAT?" Naruto was enraged by the statement. What did this guy think he was doing in his apartment telling him to break up with Sakura. Naruto was about to make a move, but then Kabuto began again.

"If you don't want to, then that's fine with me." Kabuto's face and tone became serious. "But, because I'm so nice, I must warn you, you will kill her, Naruto."

The last words he said echoed within his head. He'd heard it before, somewhere he couldn't remember now.

"See, as we talk, a poison is making its way through Sakura's bloodstream." Kabuto began. Naruto stood there, terrified to his core of what he's hearing.

"I have planted cells in her that will cause her to die." Naruto couldn't say anything, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was going by so fast and he felt dizzy standing there. He wanted to sit down, but his body was frozen in shock.

"But, you can save her, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's heart started to pump again after hearing that he could save her. He would do anything, anything to save his Sakura-chan.

"You see, this poison that I put in her is no ordinary poison." Naruto looked at Kabuto. "It can only be activated by chakra. Your chakra, Naruto-kun."

Naruto felt like the ground was going to suddenly open up and swallow him into a dark abyss. He was getting nauseous and his erratic heartbeat made him sweat.

"If you think about it, it's not lethal at all, if you're not around."

Finally, Naruto understood. The poison within Sakura, it would only take effect if his chakra was near. He would only harm her if he was around.

"You want to save her, right? Well, in order to do that, you have to stay away from her."

To save Sakura meant that he had to keep way from her.

"It's up to you Naruto-kun. You could kill her, or you could save her." Kabuto finished. Soon, he was gone, leaving Naruto behind to think about his options.

If he stays with Sakura, she would die because of him. If he left Sakura, he would die inside without her.

_"You're choice, Naruto-kun."_

------------------------

**End of Chapter 6**

That's it.

Just leave a review telling me anything.

Again, thanks to templar132 for beta reading this.

Bye for now


	7. Broken Hearts

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I just have to say sorry for taking sooooo long to update. I have been really busy and also, I suffered a major case of writer's block.

**Summary: Sasuke is finally back, but something feels terribly off. Will Naruto be able to figure it out before it's too late?**

**I want to thanks those who reviewed my story. THANKS.**

**templar132, I want to say thank you. You are awesome! Thanks for beta reading this and your support.**

**Also, thanks for your support.**

**Onward...**

'thoughts'

"talking"

**Inner-self/Kyuubi**

_Flashback(s)_

--------------------

Previously

-------------------

_"You want to save her, right? Well, in order to do that, you have to stay away from her."_

_To save Sakura means that he had to stay away from her. _

_"It's up to you Naruto-kun. You could kill her, or you could save her." Kabuto finished. Soon, he was gone, leaving Naruto behind to think about his options._

_If he stays with Sakura, she would die because of him. If he left Sakura, he would die inside without her._

_'You're choice, Naruto-kun.'_

-----------------------

**Chapter 7: Broken Hearts**

-----------------------

Naruto stood motionless in the middle of the living room, evoking on the past event that had just taken place. He didn't know what to think, it had all happened so fast.

He wanted to run after Kabuto, but he was frozen on the spot where he stood helplessly.

_'There's a poison running through her veins, Naruto. A poison that only you can activate.'_

Kabuto's words echoed within his mind, driving him wild and furious.

Why did he become weak all of a sudden? He could have knocked him out, he knew it. But...the moment he heard Sakura's name, all strength had left him.

"Sakura." He said with a trembling voice.

Naruto's breathing was getting heavier and heavier. He just wanted to sit down and contemplate on what just happened. For some time, he just stood there, lost in his thoughts.

The ringing of his clock snapped him out of whatever it was he had fallen into, and so he walked over to the chair and sat down.

_'You will kill her, Naruto. You will kill her.'_

The words kept coming back, firm on making him miserable.

Were those words that Kabuto said just words? Could he have lied to make Naruto this way?

He didn't know. There could be a chance that Kabuto was just messing with him. Maybe Kabuto was just that sick and twisted.

'That has to be it, he was just bluffing!' Naruto thought.

But, did he really want to risk the chance of hurting Sakura just because he thought Kabuto was faking it? He couldn't. No, he wouldn't risk that. Sakura meant everything to him, and without her, there wouldn't be much to live for. Sure he would still have his friends, but...Naruto doubted he would be happy without her there.

Naruto sat there a bit longer. Why not just ask Tsunade to cure the poison in Sakura? She is the greatest medic Konoha has around, so who better to do the task than her? It would have been a bright idea, but fear got the worst of him. Say he goes to Tsunade and tell her everything, what makes him so sure that Kabuto would not come back for revenge? What if Kabuto could just as easily activate the poison as he so claimed that Naruto could? What would stop him from doing so? Kabuto wouldn't congratulate him for out-smarting him, no, he would come back with something more devastating.

Naruto couldn't go to Tsunade for this, he didn't want to jeopardize the only chance he had to save Sakura.

He had no other choice.

---------------------

"How does this look?" Ino asked her friends as she held up a blue top.

"It's okay, but I still think that the purple suites you more." Sakura replied.

"Yeah." Tenten added.

The girls were out shopping at Konoha's only shopping center. They all wanted to just get out and spend the day together and usually that meant shopping.

"Alright." Ino placed back the clothing. She started to look around for more again when she spotted a nice kimono on display. "Hey Hinata, look at this."

Hinata turned at the sound of her name. "Huh?"

"This would look so cute on you!" Ino grabbed one and rushed to Hinata's side. Once there, Ino immediately pulled Hinata into a dressing room, forcing her to try it on.

While Hinata was occupied by Ino, Sakura decided to look around the store some more. Tenten was too busy looking around herself, so Sakura really had nothing better to do.

She saw nothing of interest in the room, which was filled with endless racks of feminine clothing. Not that she didn't want any of it, it was just that something seemed to be drawing her attention away from it all. Minutes of aimless walking, Sakura found herself inside another store. The walls were occupied by wooden shelves, which held a variety of things, some were head bands and some were scrolls. In the middle of the room there was a table with different types of weapons; like shurikens, kunais, and senbons. Sakura looked around, not particularly because she was interested in what she was seeing, but because something was calling out to her. She didn't know what, but there was something in the room that was drawing her in. She walked to the back corner of the store, finding nothing much in there either, just shelves of consumer items. She was about to turn and leave when something caught her eye.

On one of the shelves, she saw a necklace.

Sakura walked over to it and picked it up. The necklace wasn't much, it was a simple accessory with a simple design, but what really caught her eye were the two flames engraved on the stone. They were side by side, one was red and the other blue. Sakura turned the stone around and on the back of it was a swirl. It reminded her so much of Naruto.

"There you are forehead!" Sakura turned around after hearing Ino's voice. "We've been looking for you."

"Sorry you guys, I kinda lost track of time." She apologized. Ino just stood there while Hinata weakly smiled and Tenten nodded.

"Ready to go?"

"I just have to get something." Sakura said before she grabbed the necklace again and headed to the register.

-------------------

Sakura walked into her room. It was starting to get dark and the weather was getting colder and colder.

She walked over to the window and shut it closed, cutting off the chilly breeze

**"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter?"** Inner Sakura said, hoping to start a conversation.

'Once or twice. Yes.'

**"Well, I don't like it."**

'Better get used to it then.' Sakura advised her. On her way back, Sakura noticed a folded paper on her desk.

She unfolded it and began reading.

'Sakura, meet me at the park.' She looked at the paper, turned it over and scanned the back.

**"That's it?"** Inner Sakura was a little surprised by the brevity of the note.

There was nothing else written on the paper, except the note itself and the name of the person who sent it.

'Naruto never writes me letters like these.' Sakura found it a little suspicious that Naruto would start doing so when all his life he never once approached her like this.

**"Maybe he was in a rush, or he couldn't find you." **She offered to Sakura.

'Possibly.'

Sakura looks at her clock and realized that it was ten to seven.

'Oh crap.' Sakura rushed to her drawer and took out a tiny box.

She grabbed a coat and within seconds she was gone.

----------------------

The air blew past as it carried the freezing wind with it. The sun had already set, but still some light remained.

A gloomy young man was sitting on a bench in the middle of a desolate field.

He was looking down on the ground as he sat there. There was no one else there except him.

His dreary presence caused everything to die around him. The animals that usually grazed the land were gone, hiding from the dull world outside. The tree that stood beside the bench was withering, preparing for the long sleep it was about to take. Even the grass was dead, due to the unpleasant climate it was being subjected to. Everything seemed so obscure in the dusk.

Nothing was alive.

Naruto sat there quietly. How could he possibly do this? He knew he had no choice, but that didn't make it easier. How could he look at her face and see her heart breaking in front of him?

'It's for her own good,' he kept telling himself, 'it's for her own good,' but even that didn't help. It wouldn't help him feel better because he was still breaking her heart. Even with him knowing this, it still made him feel terrible because she doesn't know. To Sakura, it was a break-up, a simple and ugly break-up. She didn't know what Naruto knew, so she's going to think that there is something wrong with her, that she's not good enough for him. She would blame herself for it.

Naruto didn't want that, but what else could he do?

He couldn't stay with her because staying with her now would be worse that breaking up with her. How could he possibly live with knowing that she died because of him? It tore him up and drove him mad! He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, punch a brick wall repeatedly until his hands bled. He wanted to run home and weep like a child to no end.

Naruto sat there as his body shook and a tear fell from his eye.

'What are you doing? You can't be like this, you have to be strong.' He told himself while he wiped the tear away.

'You've got to,' he was about to cry, 'got to be strong for her.' Naruto said to himself, trying to hold his composure.

It made him feel slightly better. Only slightly.

He looks up into the silent field as he tries to think about anything except for the event to come. He tried thinking about the first time he received a ninja head band, he thought about his days in the academy, how he would always get in trouble when he was out training with Jiraiya, anything but her. But he found that the solitude provided by his heart and mind drew him back to thinking about her.

He hears the footsteps of someone approaching so he turned around.

There was Sakura walking towards him and she was smiling.

Her presence and the way she was smiling, he didn't know why but, it made him feel better. It made him smile.

For a brief second. Soon, he remembered why he was there and his spirit died once more.

"Hey Naruto, why did-" Sakura stopped talking. She noticed Naruto's face. It was different, it wasn't happy like it always is. Like it should be. "What's wrong Naruto?"

Sakura was motionless, terrified to come any closer. She was afraid. Naruto would never look like this unless something horribly wrong had happened.

Naruto walked towards her. "Sakura-ch-... Sakura." He said limply.

"We need to talk."

The omission of the honorific brought a chill to her spine. "What's wrong Naruto? Has something happened?" She asked him with so much concern in her eyes.

It broke his heart.

"No, nothing happened." He said in the same manner as before.

Sakura seemed to lighten up a bit, but she was still concerned, something was disturbingly wrong.

Naruto looked around, looking at everything except for her eyes. "Do you want to sit down?" He asked, looking at the bench.

Sakura was still worried, she had no idea what was going on with him and it terrified her so much not knowing. They walked to the chair and sat down.

They fell into an awkward silence.

Sakura was too afraid to say a word while Naruto was too busy trying to avoid eye contact. So she waited for him to say something.

"Sakura," Naruto begins, "I want..." He tried to say it, but he found out that it was harder in real life than when he had practiced it.

"Naruto?" She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, silently asking him what the problem was.

That made him feel even worse than he already was.

'I can't do this.' He told himself.

He pulled his hand back.

Sakura was confused as to why he did that, but it mostly hurt.

He rejected her.

'Why is he acting like this?' She asked herself.

There was another moment of uneasy silence.

"Naruto, what' going on? Did I do someth-"

"I want to break up."

"..."

Now the silence was deafening. Only the chilling air made a sound as it breezed. Everything around them seemed to die even more.

Did she hear him right? Did he just say what she thought he did?

"What?" She asked him as if she didn't hear him correctly. Well, she didn't want to hear what she heard.

Did she do something wrong?

All of a sudden, she felt heavy, almost nauseous.

Naruto couldn't look at her in the eyes because he was afraid to see what she was feeling.

"I don't want to be with you anymore." He said it as convincing as he could make it. "I don't want to see you anymore."

It made him feel like a jackass saying these things to her. He wanted to punch himself for doing so.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" She asked him, hoping that it was just some bad joke he was playing with her. But the way he said it, the way he was avoiding her made it all real.

"I can't believe what you're saying." Sakura said.

Naruto wanted to tell her so badly that he had no other choice...but he couldn't. It was as if an invisible barrier has placed itself between them, blocking him from her.

"I thought you loved me?" Her voice was shaking.

"I do, I do love you." He said desperately as he finally looked her in the eyes.

"Then why are you saying these things?" She yelled back. Her eyes were starting to water.

"..." He couldn't answer her.

"Naruto why are you doing this?" Sakura was crying now. Letting her emotions go as she tried to plead reason with him.

Naruto wanted so badly to hold her and wipe her tears away, but doing so meant giving up. So he sat there not showing that he cared. Hiding from her what pain this was causing him.

Naruto got up and turned his back to her. "Don't cry Sakura, I'm not worth crying over."

Her sobbing only got worse.

"Nar-ruto, yy-you ddon't mean this. Tell me you don't mean it?" She couldn't hold the tears anymore.

Naruto stands with his back on her. "I do."

Her heart shattered.

Naruto felt sick and disgusted with himself for doing this to her. He didn't want to stay there any longer because the more he stayed the more it hurt. He began to walk away, but Sakura did something that caused his broken heart to disintegrate into millions of pieces.

She hugged him. She fell on her way due to the fact that she was so distraught, so she held him around his legs as she sat helplessly on the cold ground, crying her eyes out.

Naruto wanted to turn around and pick her up, say he was sorry for saying it. He wanted to hold her and kiss her.

All the things he wanted to do so badly but couldn't because of a simple liquid, which drove him insane. He knew every moment he spent with her was a moment in which she died little by little.

So he wanted to just say it and leave, no explanations whatsoever. But, there was something within him holding him back, telling him that he couldn't possibly leave her like this. He didn't know exactly what the poison would do to her, but he does know that he can't leave things with Sakura this way.

All he wanted now was just one last moment with her.

"Naruto, what did I do wrong?" She held him tighter. "If we have problems then we should talk about it."

Naruto couldn't hold it anymore. He started to cry.

"I mean- that's what- that's what ppeople do when tth- they hhave problems. They talk about it." She was crying so hard that it was almost impossible to understand what she was saying.

"Do you not love me? Did I do something you didn't like?...Was I not good enough?"

That was it. He didn't care if every minute he spent with her meant she died even more. He couldn't live with her thinking that.

He turned around and sat on he ground with her.

"Sakura," he cupped her face with his hands, "don't ever think that!" He said with a demand in his voice.

He wanted to tell her that there was nothing about her that he doesn't love and not a moment he doesn't cherish...but he didn't. He couldn't.

"Listen to me when I say that there is no one better. No one." He said the last two word with great emphasis.

"Then why?" She looked at him with teary red eyes, her voice still hysterical.

No answer.

Her tears started streaming down again with every question he doesn't answer.

Then impulse kicks in as she closes in to kiss him.

It connected.

She poured out all her misery in that one kiss, hoping to save what she was losing. He didn't make a move to stop her, so she kept going.

Their tears mixed as they kissed each other, both wanting to forget everything else and just getting lost in the moment.

She was kissing him forcefully, trying to hold on to him.

He was kissing her just as passionately. His mind was telling him to go, but his heart was telling him to hold her.

For a moment they were in their own world, forgetting about what had just happened before. For a moment he forgot about the poison and just focused on kissing her. For a moment, he was happy.

But then he pulled back.

'I can't Sakura. It will only make things worse.'

"I'm sorry." With that said, Naruto stood back up.

"Naruto please, you don't mean this! Please don't leave me." She was running to him, trying to cling on. She didn't care about her desperation anymore. All she knows and wanted is that she was not going to lose Naruto.

She felt so many things all at once and it was all too familiar. She didn't want to go through this again. Once was enough for her, she didn't want to be sad again. All of this just made her remember the first time her heart was broken. That time in this very same spot where she tried holding on to him too, when she thought that maybe he will stay for her.

But just like then, she couldn't hold on.

"You should go, Sakura." Naruto said to her.

"I'm not leaving."

"Sakura..."

"I'm not going, Naruto. You can't do this. Do even know what you are saying?" She fought on, not giving in.

"Sakura..."

"You don't know what-"

"JUST LEAVE!"

Sakura became silent.

Naruto never yelled at her. Ever.

"..." She tried saying something, but his last words were too hurtful. She felt completely horrible, distraught, and sick to her stomach.

She couldn't do anything else. She had lost and now she had to leave him.

Sakura thought she couldn't cry anymore, but then another wave of tears streamed down her face. She couldn't stand being there anymore. Every moment she stayed was making the pain worse and worse.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Naruto turned around to face her, but found no one there. He looked around, but she was gone.

'She must have run away.' Naruto couldn't bear the thought that he had just said those things, done those things to her.

Naruto turned to leave, but on his way he spotted a box lying on the bench. It was the box Sakura was holding on to earlier. Naruto picked it up.

'I'm sorry, but,' Naruto turns to walk home,

'I had no other choice.

------------------

**End of Chapter 7.**

**That's it for now. I will update before the week is over. i already have the next chapter written, so it won't take a while. **

**Again, sorry for taking so long and thanks for your support.**

**Oh and review.**

**Bye**

**Rena**


	8. Thinking About You

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...yet...

**Summary: Look at the other chapters.**

PLEASE don't bring the wrath of narusaku fans upon me, Gnosismaster. I promise to fix this very soon.

For those who were wondering why Naruto couldn't have just told Tsunade, it's because he was too caught up in trying to save her life to realize that. He didn't know what could happen if he did tell Tsunade and so he didn't want to risk anything. That's my reason why he didn't.

**VERY VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ!!!**

**I want to say that something about my story may sound like NeoQueenSerenity's broken promises, which is a very good story by the way, so please know that I am not copying her in anyway. She has all creadit for what may sound like her story in this. I don't want to steal anything away from her. I just happen to have a relatively similar views. Thankyou.**

Okay, I want to say thanks for everyone that reviewed. It means a lot to me.

**I WANT TO SAY THANKS TO templar132, WHO BETA READS THIS STORY. HE IS GREAT AND THE BEST EVER, thank you. **

**okay, so here it is...**

-------------------

Previously

-------------------

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Naruto turns around to face her, but found no one there. He looked around, but she was gone.

'She must have run away.' Naruto couldn't bare the thought that he had jsut said those things, done those things to her.

Naruto turns to leave, but on his way he spots a box lying on the bench. It was the box Sakura was holding on to earlier. Naruto moves closer to pick it up.

'I'm sorry, but,' Naruto turns to walk home,

'I had no other choice.

**----------------------**

**Chapter 8: Thinking About You**

**----------------------**

Naruto walked slowly into his room, distressed and worn out.

The world outside seem to move on just fine as he slowly died inside from the pain. Life went on, not caring that he was suffering from the greatest pain he could ever think of, something even worse than the pain of being alone. No one knew, no one cared. Life on earth moved on and with no hesitations of leaving him behind if he was to fall down.

He looked out his window and heard everyone. He could hear the mother scolding her son for running around. He heard the sound of a happy little kid because his father had just bought him the latest issue of his favorite magazine. He heard the squeals of young girls as they played in the park.

He hears them all, but no one hears him.

How he wanted to just break down and cry then and there with her. How he wanted to just hold her for one more second and smell her sweet scent one last time. And how he wanted to touch her.

He thought he could do it and not think about her, but there had not been a second that he didn't. He thought that he could go through with all of it and put the pain aside by not thinking about it. But who was he kidding?

How could he not think about her? She was everything he ever wanted and ever needed. She was the love of his life. Sakura was a heavenly being that lifted him high. Her cute little habits, the way she would innocently smile for him, and the way she confide in him were his weaknesses. Naruto loved how she would talk about her day, how good it was or how terrible it was. He loved the small talk about nothing that they had shared. He loved the way she would move her eyes, how she would squint at just the right moments to make her look absolutely irresistible. He loved how she would gently smile and move her head to the side, as if she was shy, to show that she was proud of him.

He missed her angelic face. He longed to touch it once more, just to feel her soft skin again. He missed being with her.

He wanted to wake up and see her beside him, like the way they used to be.

At night, he reaches out to an empty space where she used to lie, hoping in his loneliness that she would be there to hold him at night. The way she made him place his head on her stomach as she caressed his hair until he fell asleep. How she would sometimes surprise him by kissing him as they lay in bed.

He missed being close to her. Her very presence was enough to make him weak for days. He loved that about her. How she could simply have him sweating by just being beside him.

The pain was all too real to him. The things he missed were too much to take, yet it provided him with comfort.

It somehow made him feel better. Maybe because he knew that he had actually had those things with her instead of having just dreamt about them.

Naruto looked to the side where his desk is. He took out a box from the drawer. It was that same box he had found lying on the ground that dreadful day.

Naruto would often reach for it whenever the loneliness and depression became unbearable. He would look at it and suddenly feel better. Maybe something about the necklace or the fact that it was from Sakura made him feel better. Maybe because looking at it made him think that Sakura is thinking of him still.

"Sakura-chan." He said out loud as he looked at the necklace.

---------------------------

"There, that's the last of them." Shikamaru said as he placed down the last of the boxes.

It was sunny outside, a bright and beautiful day. The children were running around like crazy on the grass, because it was that time of the year that makes everyone so happy. The butterflies were dancing with the fluttering flowers and flitting along with the breeze. The birds were out and singing to each other, the trees were vividly colorful, and the weather couldn't be better.

Inside the room, however, was another story. The floor was undistinguishable due to the many things that occupied it, the various papers that covered the top and sides of it. Boxes were everywhere, securing a spot on every corner of the room. There were lamps, cook books, candles, and various others things on top of the coffee table, waiting to be placed in their designated spots. Just forget about organization, because it was nonexistent here. The silverware was on the study table, clothes that were supposed to be hanged were lying on the dining table, and overall it was just a mess.

"Thanks Shikamaru." A girl with lively pink hair said. She walked over to her chair and sat down. It had been a long day for her.

"You gonna be okay here, Sakura?" He asked as he walked over to her side and sat down.

The girl seemed to think for a second, "Yeah."

The calm soothing feeling that spring brought along was getting to her. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep the rest of the day away, but then again Sakura didn't want to waste valuable time. She could be cleaning or organizing her things in her new apartment for the rest of the day, and quite frankly, she had nothing better to do.

"It's a really nice place, you know."

"Yeah, I still can't believe I got it." Sakura replied to the boy sitting next to her. For some time, the two just admired the beautiful room that they were in. "I have so many things to do."

Shikamaru chuckled, "Well, you better get started then. This is a lot of things you have to unpack."

"If only I can get up." Sakura said lazily.

"Ino is coming over later right?" Shikamaru asked, pretending that he was just asking a simple question with simple answer, "To help you out?"

"Yeah." Sakura already knew about his feelings, but she wanted to give him the chance to tell Ino himself. Besides, she really didn't want to play matchmaker with these two. "Why are you so interested all of a sudden?"

Shikamaru didn't make a move, he didn't even tense up.

**'He's good at this.' **Inner Sakura added.

"Just curious." He said simply. Sakura decided to leave it at that, she knew there was no hope in this conversation anyway.

"There you are, slackers!" A man with raven black hair walked into the room. He placed the box he was holding on the table so he could go and scold the two.

"Hehe. Sorry Sasuke, we got tired and wanted to sit down for a while." Sakura innocently offered.

"Well, I better go. I'm kind of tired anyway." Shikamaru exhaled as he got up and left the room.

"Thanks again, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru waved a goodbye before he left the apartment. Sakura and Sasuke were left alone in the room.

"So, have you decided on what you're going to do with the place?" Sasuke asked hoping to start a conversation.

"Sorta. I think I might make this a study room slash living room. I don't have that much space."

"Well, that could work, but maybe you should-ahhh." Sasuke screamed as the pile of boxes next to him collapsed and fell on him, burying him underneath.

Sakura rushed to his side to make sure he was alright. "You alright?"

"Yyyeah." Sakura helped the pathetic boy up. She wondered if Sasuke was really that slow now, not even catching the boxes as they fell on him.

Once Sasuke was up, Sakura moved away so she could give him some space. Sasuke, however, pulled her in closer where they could feel each other's breath. Sakura became nervous because they were so close and that fact that Sasuke was so calm about this. She didn't know what to do, she had never been in this position before, well, not with Sasuke at least. His breathing, the movement of his chests as the expanded and contracted was mesmerizing to her. Sasuke gently rubbed his hand up her arm, making her shiver. He made quiet breathing sounds and he slowly moved closer to her. His scent was soothing and his touch was gentle. He was getting closer and closer and her heartbeat was getting faster and faster. She'd been waiting for this for as long as she could remember and now that it was about to happen…

**"Quick!" **She needed something, anything to distract him and get her out of this predicament. **"Sneeze, cough, burp! DO SOMETHING!"**

They were an inch away from kissing each other when Sakura turned her head away. "I have so many things to do, I better get started." She moved away.

Sasuke pulled back, a little embarrassed that she turned him down.

"Yeah." Sasuke had never experienced rejection and when he did, he didn't like it. To say the least, he was irritated by it, but he couldn't let that show. "Yeah, I should go too. Busy you know."

There was an awkward silence. Sakura was backing away and busying herself with chores while Sasuke was on his way out. Sasuke was about to say something before he left, but decided against it.

Soon, Sasuke was gone. Sakura released a breath as she sat down.

She wasn't sure what just happened there, nor was she sure she wanted it. Did she?

She had been waiting for this her whole life and when she had been given the chance, she'd ruined it.

'I'm not ready yet.' Sakura said to herself.

She moved to close the door, but before she did, she looked outside one more time. She took in the scenery and when she was satisfied, she closed the door.

'I'm not ready to give in yet, Naruto.'

--------------------------

Slam!

The room shook from the force of the closing door, and a dark figure strode in, apparently aggravated.

Sasuke walked over to his chair and sat down. It was dark in his room because the lights were off and the windows were shut. There was not a single source of light in the room save the one coming through a crack in one of the windows. It gave an ominous atmosphere.

"Did you have a bad day?"

Sasuke stiffened at the sound of someone's voice. Although he knew who it was already, he was just caught off guard.

"Why are you here?"

Kabuto stepped out of the dark. "Dear Sasuke, you should know this by now. Do I have to remind you?"

"Once more couldn't hurt." Sasuke remained cool and collected.

"I told you, I held my end of the deal and now you have to hold yours. So, when will I get it?"

"Soon, I almost got him last time, but-"

"But you didn't." Kabuto finished the sentence for him. "Well, that can't help me at all, now can it?"

Sasuke fell silent, Kabuto was the one running things here right now.

"Listen Uchiha, I didn't do this so you could go play family with your little girlfriend. I want-"

It was Sasuke's turn to interrupt. "I know, I know." Sasuke tried pleading with him. "You will get your new body soon."

Kabuto slithers his tongue across, very much liking the sound of that.

"You've taken enough time, Uchiha. Better not take long." Kabuto said as he disappeared. Sasuke took a few moments to take in what he just said, sometimes he wished he had never made this deal.

Sasuke decided that there was no use in crying over it and so he got up and walked out the door.

_'Don't make me take matters into my own hands, Sasuke.' _He locked the door and headed over to Naruto's house.

----------------------------

Sakura was lying on her couch, fast asleep and dreaming. In her subconscious, she could hear a rhythm, an unsteady beat of loud notes. She was, however, too concentrated in her unconscious thoughts to care enough to find out the source of the sound.

Bang, bang.

Slowly, the notes became louder and louder, almost drowning out everything else in her mind, yet it wasn't enough to wake her.

In her dream, Sakura saw a figure. The body looked masculine and though she couldn't distinguish the person, it gave off a familiar feeling. Whoever he was, she had a feeling deep within her telling her that she knew him.

"How are you?" The man in her dream asked.

"I'm getting by." Sakura replied. She didn't know what she was doing, or rather she had no control of it. She knew she was dreaming, yet she couldn't stop herself from saying anything. "How about you?"

"..."

The man didn't say anything, but Sakura understood exactly what he meant by it.

There was a feeling of trust between the two and a feeling of ease. They knew each other and trusted each with their lives. Sakura knew who he was, but at the same time didn't. Her heart knew this person and she trusted him, but her memories blurred him, made him undistinguishable.

Bang!

The sound came back. 'Where is that coming from' She asked herself.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked. She didn't even know how she just said that, because she wasn't moving her lips, or at least she didn't intend to move her lips. It was as if someone made her speak, or maybe she was just an observer of the two people speaking to each other.

"I wanted to see you." The man's expression became gloomy. Then all of a sudden, she also became sad. The guy standing in front of her seemed so depressed, so lonely, and it made her remember how she felt that day when that terrible thing happened. She felt sympathy for him, she understood his pain and sorrow. This guy was crying out to her, and she knew it, but she shouldn't do anything. She was just forced to stand there as her mind told her the tragic story of two young people.

"Why did you go?" Sakura asked him in empathy, knowing well the answer.

"I had to leave..." the man told her. It was the same as before. Every time she asked him that question, he would give that answer.

BANG!

The sound was so loud this time that it frightened them.

The man standing in front of her got terrified and started backing away.

"Don't go." She pleaded with him, but her words were soft. Like the words of someone trying to comfort someone in pain.

BANG!

Slowly, Sakura drifted away from her dream, pulled by an unknown force. She tried running to him, but everything turned dark before she could take another step. She wasn't ready to give up yet, so she screamed his name, hoping that he would hear her and come back.

The loud rhythm continued and soon, it pulled her out of her mind and back to reality.

Sakura woke up to the bright light of her new apartment with the lovely sound of someone knocking impatiently on the door.

"Forehead! Open up!" Ino kept up her unyielding pursuit of knocking the door down by punching it repeatedly. "FOREHEAD!"

Sakura took a few moments to wake up and wipe the sleep off her eyes.

"Open up!"

Sometimes she wondered if Ino's voice was naturally that annoying or if Ino was just that good at making people feel annoyed.

"I'm here. Sorry, I fell asleep." Sakura rushed to the door and opend it, letting Ino in.

"God, Sakura. Seriously, you ought to learn how not to fall asleep when you know someone is coming over." Ino attacked her with words as she walked in the room.

"Well, you ought to learn how to lower your voice, " she fired back, "seriously, you know you don't have to yell every last word!"

"It works." Ino said in her usual manner of voice to Sakura. "What were you doing anyway?"

"I told you, I fell asleep." Sakura told her again. Then Sakura remembered what had just happened before Ino interrupted her. "I had a bad dream."

This was the fourth time this week that she dreamt about him. Of course the dreams varied from one another, but it was basically the same story. Every night she would find herself lost in a dark, time-less world with the same guy. Sometimes she would be dreaming about simple things and then the set would change and she would find herself in an unknown place, talking to him. It was the same conversation all the time, he would ask how she was doing and then she would ask him. Then he would say that he wanted to see her and go away.

Every time she dreamt about him, there was always something that seemed to pull him away from her.

"Were you dreaming about..."

"Yeah." Sakura cut her off before she could finish. Sakura knew that Ino wanted to hear the dream, but Ino wouldn't force it out of her. Even though her mind ached to remember and her heart fled from grief, she started to tell her. "I was dreaming of Naruto again."

Ino became silent, letting Sakura take the stage, because she knew well that she couldn't say anything that would make her feel better in this situation. She understood the pain Sakura was going through and she wanted to help her ease it, because after all, Sakura deserved it.

"We were talking and I asked him how he was doing." Sakura searched within her mind for the memory. She was hurting still, but by saying it out loud made her feel better. "He said nothing, but I knew,"

Ino was listening intently.

"He didn't have to say it because it showed in his face, I knew he felt lonely." Sakura recalled Naruto's reaction to that question, how his lips frowned upon hearing her say those words. How he became sad all of a sudden. Although it was just a dream, meaning that all his expressions and concern were her heart and mind's hope, she couldn't help but wish he was lonely, but not because she wanted him to suffer, but because by being sad, she knew that he still had feelings for her. At least, that's what she would think it meant, but then again, she hadn't seen him for a long time since their break-up.

Ever since that day, she only saw little, if not any, of him. Occasionally she would find him at the training grounds alone, practicing and getting better, but aside from those moments she hadn't been close to him since that day.

Sakura chuckled at her own self pity.

"I want him to feel lonely without me. I want him to miss me." It took a lot of courage for her to say that, mostly because she felt somewhat ashamed that she became like this.

Ino understood exactly what she meant. Sakura wanted Naruto to miss her because deep down she was still in love with him. Sakura wanted to know that Naruto felt the same way even now, after all that had been said and done between them. She knew Sakura wasn't bitter about it but only hurt by what had happened between her and Naruto.

"You really miss him, don't you?"

It took all Sakura had not to cry after that. Of course she missed him, she missed him more than she could have ever known. Every single day she thought about him, although it was painful for her. Painful to know that they could have had something more, something deeper than what they were then. Maybe they could be with each other right now instead of broken apart, perhaps they would have been on an romantic vacation away from the world and it's cruelties, and maybe, just maybe they would be living together by now.

Regret hurt her so much she sometimes wondered if it would have been better if they never had gotten together in the first place.

Was it all worth it?

Were all the happy times, however short they were, that they shared together worth the pain that it had caused her now? Did she deserve to feel so much for him, to love him so much she would give her life for him only to suffer from it?

Why is it that when she finally found someone, life snatches him away from her? Why did she deserve to go through life's cruel joke of giving her happiness for once only to take it away the minute when she's most vulnerable?

Why this and why that?

How her life is now revolving around shame, guilt, and regret.

"Yeah, I miss him." Sakura accepted it, hell she might as well have glorified it. "Sometimes I wish he was still here just so I could hold him, you know?"

"Gees, Sakura you talk about him like he died or something." Ino pointed out.

'Is there a difference?'

Sakura only smiled at Ino's words but somewhat hurt and confused by it.

Sakura didn't want talk about it anymore and so she started unpacking more of her things as Ino did the same.

---------------------------

"Remember?"

Naruto snapped out of his musings to hear the question. He was just thinking about how to answer her and so he retreated to the safety that is his memory. It was hard for him to think with Sakura softly caressing his hair as he rested his head on her legs.

"How could I forget?" He finally said.

Sakura looked down on him and smiles.

It was about eight months ago when they were on a mission. It was just the two of them, Sai had suspiciously gotten a cold that very day and Yamato strangely disappeared, and Kakashi was still in the hospital at that point. Naruto's belongings had been mysteriously 'misplaced' and so he wasn't prepared for the ugly, brutal rain that they encountered. As they were walking along the seemingly dry earth, the sky started getting darker and began grumbling and before they could think about it, it started raining. Shortly afterwards, the ground softened and started turning into liquid and every step they made only made it worse.

The rain was pouring down on them, beating them to the ground (okay that's a lie, but the point is it was raining hard). They didn't know what to do, it just started raining without warning.

_"We need to find shelter, Naruto." _Sakura said as she looked around for anything they could use to hide from the rain.

Naruto was looking around too, after all, if he didn't get out of this place soon, he might catch something, but also, he didn't have spare clothes.

_"Sakura-chan, look!"_ Sakura did what Naruto instructed, _"there's a house over there, see?"_

And indeed there was. They fought through the muddy field, fell a few times and got back up. It felt like they had been running for years after they got to the place, they were soaked and dirty and just plain stunk. Their feet were covered in mud up to their knees and their faces, especially Naruto's, were covered with who knows what.

_"Ahh, I'm so dirty!" _Sakura cried out, trying her best to wipe away the dirt from her face.

_"Well, at least we're out of the rain." _Naruto tried to offer as consolation. He knew Sakura didn't like being seen in unpleasant situations, but Naruto didn't think she looked horrid.

They knocked on the door, but there was no answer. They tried again yet there was still no answer. Naruto walked over to a window and peered in.

_"I don't think anyone is in there. The place looks abandoned inside."_ He saw nothing in the room except a few boxes and a number of logs scattered about the floor.

Sakura, not wanting to stay out there any longer, broke the door open and strode in, and Naruto soon followed her. Inside the house, there was nothing to be seen, save from a few cobwebs on the ceiling. The two first made sure that there was no one in there and after about three minutes of searching, they found no one.

_"Okay, we need to change out of our clothes and dry up," _Sakura began, completely forgetting the fact that Naruto had nothing with him, _"We're going to need water to clean our clothes and shower with, I'm sure we can find a bucket in here somewhere," _Naruto tried jumping in to tell her that he had nothing to wear, but Sakura continued on, _"if not, we will just make our own."_

_"Sakura-chan..."_

_"Then we have to wait the rain out, no use trying to go on with the weather like this,"_

_"EH, Sakura-chan..."_

_"As so as our clothes dry and the rain stops, we should keep going."_

_"Sakura-chan!"_

_"What?" _She finally noticed that he was trying to tell her something.

_"I don't have anything to change into." _He said it plainly since there was no other way of doing so.

_"Oh..."_ She remembered that Naruto had lost his things on there way here, and they couldn't turn back because they had gotten far. She tried thinking of a solution to his problem, but she couldn't think of anything. Well she did think of one thing, but that couldn't work out. _"Well, I suppose you could just wear some of my baggier clothes until yours are dry."_

Naruto choked at her solution.

_"But Sakura-chan, how could I possibly fit in your clothes?"_

Then she realized that Naruto was bigger than her and would require bigger clothes. Then she thought of something else,

_"Well, just wear something over that area and just not wear clothes."_

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, _'Did she just say that?'_

_'Did I just say that?'_

_**"Hell yeah you did!"**_

Sakura laughed after remembering that time. "Haha, you looked so ridiculous with that grass skirt on."

Unfortunately for him, Sakura had nothing that could fit him and so he had to improvise. He went outside and started making his own clothes.

"But, I realized something that day," Sakura stopped her laughing to focus on her original point, "after that time with you, I realized that I wanted more."

Sakura confessed to him. "At that moment, I felt something deep within me, and I realized," Sakura looked down at him, "I love you."

This was the first time Sakura had told him that, but yeah of course she had said she loved him, but she had never said how she did.

Naruto lifted his head up and kissed her.

"Naruto," she said in between kisses, "are you listening to me?"

He decided to ignore her question.

"Yo," she said, "snap out of it dude."

"What?" Naruto opened his eyes. He looked around to see that he was in a bar and right beside him was Kiba.

"Dude, man you were so out of it." Kiba notified him.

"Yeah, we we're yelling your name and everything, but still nothing." He looked to his other side to find Shikamaru.

Then he remembered that he had gone out with the guys tonight for some drinks. In his case, some with be an understatement.

"I think you better stop drinking and just go home, Naruto."

"Thanks, Chouji. I think I might just do that." Naruto tried to get up, he was a little wobbly at first, but then he straightened up.

"Yo man, you that drunk?" Kiba asked him.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I'm just a little tired is all, I mean just waking up and all that. But no, I'm not drunk." Naruto told them. He was on his way out of the place when someone stopped him.

"Wait up, I'll go with you." A man with black hair ran up to him.

"Sasuke, you sure you don't want to stay?"

"No, I'll go with you." Sasuke insisted on going with him.

--------------

The two ninjas were walking on the empty street. Neither one said a word to each other, not that they needed to anyway. They were comfortable in the silence they were in.

Just when they were about to reach the training grounds, Sasuke decided to ask him something.

"Hey, you feel like getting your ass kicked?" Sasuke said to him as he motioned his head towards the field.

"Hah, don't make me laugh, Uchiha."

The two ran to the place, got on there in battle positions and prepared to fight it out.

"Last time you got off easy, Sasuke," Naruto taunted him, hoping to get the best out from him, "don't think you be as lucky this time."

"Please." That was all he said.

Naruto put his hand to his holster, preparing to draw out a kunai, while Sasuke did the same.

For moment they just watched each other, trying to see who would make the first move.

It was quiet, the two made no sound aside from their breathing.

A leaf flew by, carried by the wind, and before it had a chance to go on, a kunai pierced right through it.

Naruto rolled to his side as he tried to avoid the sharp weapon. He looked up and Sasuke was gone.

He stands on the ready and looked for him. The field was empty, there was no trace of Sasuke anywhere. Naruto couldn't rely on his eyes for this one so he closed them and tuned up his hearing.

Nothing.

But Naruto didn't give up, he knew Sasuke was out there somewhere. He concentrated just a little bit harder.

He hears a twig snap on his right side.

Naruto quickly pulled out a shuriken and threw it in that direction. Sasuke came jumping out.

"You should know by now that hiding from me doesn't work." Naruto reminded him.

Sasuke ignored him and instead pulls out another kunai and rushes him.

Cling!

Their weapons slashed each other, making tiny sparks as they rubbed.

Sasuke tried gaining the advantage by punching him, but Naruto blocked them just as easily. Naruto lunged forward, throwing Sasuke of balance.

'There.'

Naruto saw an opening. He leaned in to smack Sasuke on the face, but on his way, the necklace fell out of his pocket.

Naruto saw it as it fell and he suddenly saw Sakura. He couldn't let that fall, he had to save it.

Naruto turns his focus to the object, giving Sasuke an opening.

As he was reaching to catch it, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and stabbed it into his abdomen.

"Ahhh!"

Sasuke kept going, slitting across Naruto's side. He could hear Naruto scream in pain, but he didn't stop, he didn't want to. Sasuke ripped open Naruto's side. Blood was oozing out from it as Sasuke finally drew his weapon back.

Naruto fell to ground, clutching the necklace tight in one hand as the other tried to protect his wound.

"You're really out of it, Naruto. We should stop," Sasuke puts away his weapon, "Besides, that wound looks terrible."

"It's nothing, I heal fast." Naruto tried getting up, but the pain on his side was too much for him and so he fell back down. Sasuke walked over to help him up.

"Sure you do, but I think you ought to get that checked. Just in case."

"Nonsense, I don't need to get it checked." Naruto tried assuring him, mostly because he didn't want to go to the hospital, but Sasuke wouldn't have it.

"You're going, and that's the end of that." Sasuke helped him up and dragged him along to the hospital.

Naruto didn't like the idea of going there, but he was far too weak to do anything about it. He had no choice but to go.

--------------

Naruto could hear the sounds of the bird chirping. He could faintly picture the world outside right now.

He heard a steady beep of a monitor beside him.

He remembered where he was now. Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes to the blinding, bright sunlight. He looked around the room and to find that he is in the hospital.

He released a breath. Honestly, Naruto hated waking up in the hospital, because usually that meant waking up to an overly clean smelling room and tied up with medical equipment that just creeps him out. As the case he was in right now, Naruto slowly got up and rested his head against the head board.

Just then, a nurse walked in.

"You're finally awake." She walked over to him and checked him over.

"What time is it?" Naruto lazily asked her.

"Just about noon. You've been out for a while." The nurse checked his readings and made some mental notes. "When can I leave?"

The nurse looked at him funny. "Not yet, later tonight. You lost a lot of blood doing whatever it was you were doing..."

"Training." Naruto told her.

"What?"

"I was training." Naruto said to her in a serious voice.

"Right, well you received a major wound. I suspect that it won't heal for a while."

Naruto looked at his side to see a bandage around it. Usually, the Kyuubi would have healed him by now, but he still felt a little weak from it.

"And that will leave a scar, by the way." The nurse was nice enough to tell him that. "I trust that you will stay in here and rest, right?"

"Right." Naruto lied. There was no way that he would stay in there, confined and locked up against his will. No, he will find a creative way of ditching the place.

As soon as the nurse walked out, Naruto pulled out all the creepy looking devices that they had injected in him and got up. He moved a little limply, but that didn't stop him.

'First, I got to find my clothes.'

-----------------

"I'm going for my break now, alright Shizune?" Sakura asked her friend. They were assigned to work together and so only one could take a break at one time.

"Sure, I'll just sit here and watch the paint dry." Shizune sarcastically said in a happy voice. Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at her remark.

"Be back soon."

Sakura left the room.

'Okay, I brought my lunch today, so I'll just go and eat that.' She was on her way to the lounge when she remembered that she had to stop by to talk to Tsunade.

'Oh, right.'

Sakura turned to the other direction and started walking. She passed many rooms as she went on her way, but one in particular caught her attention. There was a nurse trying to call security on one of her patients, supposedly he had escaped and now she couldn't find him.

"Yeah, tall, spiky blonde hair with blue eyes." The nurse said over the phone.

Sakura froze after hearing that.

She knew him, but was it him? There could be other people with wild, messy golden hair in Konoha. Nah, it was just her mind playing games with her.

'Focus, Sakura.'

She kept on walking down, drowning out the sound of the nurse talking.

She made a turn around a corner and walked into a room. It was a shortcut to Tsunade's office because no one was allowed in there so it would save her time trying to go through everyone in the halls. On her way in, she ran into somebody, and ended up falling over.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking," Sakura shook her head as she stood up, "I didn't mean to-"

She became quiet, her heart skipped a beat and she became dizzy.

"Naruto?"

-------------------------

**Wow, that was long. So, umm please review to tell me what you think.**

**I was originally going** **to split this into** **two parts, but then...I didn't.**

**Again, thanks to templar132.**

**That's it for now.**

**Oh and I know I said I will updat before the week is over and I didn't, but I did only a day after my due date.**

**BYE**

* * *

**More Author's Note.**

**Man, I am just having the worse time dealing plagiarism!**

As FISHY CRACKERS have pointed out, there is a line in the story that came from Spider-Man 3. I just want to say that it did come from it and I am here to say that all credit belongs to the creators of that movie, not me, the creators.

Thank you.

(Oh, and I'm doing this because i believe plagiarism is wrong and credit must be given where it is due.)


	9. IMPERATIVE!

**Hey guys, I just want to take some time and dedicate a chapter to all those who had reviewed...**

**templar132 **

**Krymsom**

**full-metal-sousuke**

**MezumiAzuma**

**maxslayer10**

**Chaos star951**

**jere7782**

**NaruxSaku2189**

**loca4NSF**

**Kariol**

**SakuNaruLover**

**AdventGriever**

**HokageNaruto**

**VyseN**

**asdf**

**Mod Soul 792**

**narusaku fan**

**Jonathan**

**Suffocated with Cheese**

**xokatherine229**

**narutonarutard123**

**Descendingbackwards**

**uzukun7**

**OnlyTimeWill Tell**

**MoD366**

**Gnosismaster**

**THANK YOU all. **

**bye for now.**


	10. Chapter 9 and 10

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: Nope.

**Thanks to templar132, who has done such a great job in beta reading this and helping me out. He is the greatest ever. Thank you.**

**As always, I want to thank those who have reviewd.**

**Summary: Got to make a move to a town that's right for me...tee tee ta tee taa taa tee tee ta tee...town to keep me moving keep me grooving with the energy...tee tee ta tee taa ta tee tee ta tee...well talk about, talk about it, talk about it, talk about it...won't you take me to, funky town, won't you take me to, funky town.**

**Just to remind you guys of something. Remember in chapter 4, Kabuto hands Sasuke a vial. This very same vial was used by Sasuke during his interrogation with Ibiki, so that Ibiki will forget the purpose of him questions. Then, later on another chapter, Kabuto comes back with yet another vial, only this one was made by Kabuto. It is also the vial that contained the poison. Just wanted to remind you guys that, okay.**

-------------------

Previously

-----------------

_She made a turn around a corner and walked into a room. It was a shortcut to Tsunade's office because no one was allowed in there so it would save her time trying to go through everyone in the halls. On her way in, she ran into somebody, and ended up falling over._

_"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking," Sakura shook her head as she stood up, "I didn't mean to-"_

_She became quiet, her heart skipped a beat and she became dizzy._

_"Naruto?"_

----------------

**Chapter 9/10: Novem **

----------------

The room was deadly silent.,

Neither one could utter a word because they were too lost in their thoughts and the moment.

Sakura was looking at Naruto.

Naruto was looking at Sakura.

They studied each other and took in what they hadn't seen in so long.

'He's changed since...' She thought. He seemed to have gotten taller since the last time she was this close to him almost three months ago.

Seeing him here now was the last thing she would have thought could happen. It didn't feel real, she thought maybe she was dreaming. However now she didn't really care to distinguish between the two. Whether it was a dream or not, she didn't care, all she knew was that he was here with her now and she wasn't going to lose a chance to talk to him.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her mouth became dry all of a sudden and she couldn't get the words out. She didn't expect that it would be this hard to talk to him. She shouldn't be choking because she's said a million words to him before, but there was awkwardness between them that she just wasn't over yet.

She tried saying it again.

"How are you?" She said faintly, still in shock.

"Okay." He said it so quietly it was barely audible. He too was in shock and therefore choked on his reply. It was like a lump, suddenly built up on his throat and he was unable to say anything to her. He takes a long breath of air. "Okay." He said it louder this time.

Naruto took another breath of air, releasing with it all his nervousness.

He wasn't ready for this moment just yet, but he was already in it so he couldn't leave now. He had dreamt about this very moment for months, everyday since their break-up to be more accurate, and now that it was here, he couldn't even say more than one word to her.

She too was just as dumbfounded. Here he was standing right in front of her, awaiting her words, but she couldn't say them. She'd gone over her head about a million times how this would happen. She would say hello to him and he would say hello back, then she would say all the things she longed to tell him that she never did before.

They just stood there without saying anything to each other. She felt like he was getting too uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of there, but she didn't want that, she had to do something to make him stay longer, just a little bit longer so she could talk to him. Then she noticed the bandage around his waist.

"What happened?" She asked him, trying not to sound too concerned because she might scare him away, but enough to let him know she's worried.

Naruto looks at his wound.

"Oh this?" He didn't know how to explain it without saying anything he might regret. He couldn't say, 'yeah, I got this because I took your necklace and never gave it back to you and when I was fighting Sasuke, it fell and I just had to save it, you know?'

"I made a careless mistake while I was out training with Sasuke." That was all he said to her.

Sakura wanted to reprimand him for his carelessness, but then she remembered she no longer had that right.

"You look nice." He finally said after looking at her for what seemed like an eternity.

Her heart beat started to slow down to normal again. They were getting use to each other's company.

She smiles.

And just like that they were the same again. There was no longer that thorny, uneasy feeling that they were just experiencing and suddenly, they no longer felt ill at ease. He complimented her and she happily accepted it without all the weirdness that would usually accompany it.

"Thanks, but I'm not so sure I look presentable in these clothes." Sakura said jokingly as she smiled.

"You don't look that bad." Naruto said just as amusingly with one side of his smile curved just a little bit higher, making him look like a child.

"That bad? Oh okay."

"No, no, no." Naruto tried saving himself from what he just said to her. "I mean you look really nice."

She took his compliment, smiling shyly as she did so.

It was nice for them, to just be there and talking again. They longed for it, dreamt about it, and more than anything, they needed it. They needed it for their own sanity and mental health, actually.

It was sweet for them to be able to talk to each other again like they used to, with nothing hanging over their heads. Just for a brief moment, they could forget about everything else and be with each other, that's all they wanted.

Then Sakura took a chance, saying something that they were better off not knowing.

"I miss you."

The atmosphere in the room changed from familiar ease to a feeling of regret for the two.

She needed to say that to him and he needed to hear that from her.

"I-"

"I'm not asking much from you, Naruto, but just hear me out." She cut him off before he could say anything else.

He was actually glad she did, because he didn't know how to reply to her last statement.

"I don't know...I don't...know" she started to feel a little dizzy and her weight became almost unbearable, "why things happen like they do sometimes," she was shaking her head, trying to stay awake," but they happen for a," she was starting to get a headache and her heart was beating faster and faster, "a...a reason," she was breathing heavily and she was starting to sweat, " reason..."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto took a step forward, figuring out that something was happening to her.

"I'm fine, just a little tired I guess." Sakura tried reassuring him, well more like herself really.

Naruto knew though, he understood exactly why she started feeling that way. He had to get out of there before it got worse.

"Look, I better leave. I have to do something." Naruto started to back away to the door.

Sakura tried stopping him, but she was too tired to and also because she knew she couldn't stop him.

He took one last look at her and soon he was gone.

Sakura stayed in there for just a minute longer. When she was done looking at nothing, she too left the room.

----------------

Inside a dark, underground room, a man was walking back and forth. He seemed to be debating on something as he walked around, his feet splashing the water drops on the cold ground.

"That useless boy, he has failed again!" He thought out loud. His walking became harsher, becoming more like stomps than anything else. "Doesn't he know I'm almost out of time!" He yelled out loud.

Orochimaru paced back and forth.

"Stupid idiot can't even do one thing right in his life." He vented out all his anger in the empty room.

"GAHHH!!!" He picked up a chair that was sitting beside him and threw it at the wall. The poor wooden object shattered into many pieces.

He continued his pace.

"To think, after all I have done for him, he thanks me this way." Orochimaru couldn't take the thought of ungrateful people, it made him mad to the bone, irking him so much that the only way he could calm down was by killing someone.

"No worries." He assured himself. He looked around for anything to sit on considering he had just demolished the one chair in the room. He finally settled on the table.

"I will figure out a way, somehow."

-----------------------

The birds were chirping on another sunny, bright morning in Konoha. The sun rose as usual bringing with it its warming rays and blinding light.

The rooster released his morning call and soon, the village was up and about.

In a corner section of the village, in an apartment on the second floor, what sounded like a wailing pig, in a certain pinked haired girl's ear, could be heard.

It was too early in the morning to be listening to these kinds of sounds, especially for a certain Haruno Sakura.

"I mean, seriously, you does that?" Ino continued her inexorable words.

Sakura tried drowning her out, but knew that never really works out too well in these situations.

"I try to help him and he's like, 'I don't need help,' you know?" Ino didn't seem to notice that she might as well be talking to herself because Sakura wasn't listening.

The pinked haired girl was trying her best to pour coffee in her mug. She was careful to tune out Ino, particularly when she starts screaming in that high pitch voice of her sometimes, so that she doesn't spill the hot liquid on her delicate skin.

"Sakura, are you listening?" Ino inquired from her friend.

"Uh-huh."

Ino didn't sense the lie in her voice, so she kept on ranting.

"Okay, so I told him, 'Shikamaru, I've had it with you, if you want to grow up and talk to me, then I'll be waiting, until then, just forget I ever knew you,' and I stormed out." Ino recalled that little event last night with him. Supposedly, they had been in an argument and Ino had had it with him and told him off. "Although, we were in the middle of the road, so I couldn't have 'stormed out', so I guess I just angrily walked away."

Sakura had finally gotten her morning beverage and settled down on a comfy sofa.

"So, let me get this straight," Sakura took a quick sip of the deliciously soothing coffee, "you tried talking to him, again, two days ago, and he was a little drunk."

Ino nodded her head.

"You told him that he shouldn't do those things and he got mad, and then you got mad? Am I'm getting this?" Sakura asked.

Ino nodded again.

"And now you told him never to speak to you again until he grows up?"

"Yeah, basically."

Sakura took another sip of her coffee. "And now you're regretting saying it because you think he might not and you guys will never talk again."

Ino nodded in reply. "What do I do? I can't take it back because then he wins, but I don't want it to last because I would I miss talking to him."

Sakura took a moment to think about her next reply. "Well, I think the best way to fix this..."

Ino listened closely.

"is by telling him the truth already." Sakura said at last.

"What?" Ino didn't understand exactly what she meant.

"Come on Ino, you know what I'm talking about." Sakura tried to remind her. "It was the reason why you broke up with Sai in the first place."

Ino opened her mouth to speak.

"And don't even try telling me it was because he wasn't ready for a commitment because I will kick you out." Sakura said to her.

Ino gave up, Sakura knew her too well for her to try and deny it.

"Fine, you win. I guess." Ino wasn't ready to accept it just yet, but the feeling was getting stronger and stronger. She didn't like thinking about it right now, so she started a new conversation. "So, what did you do yesterday?"

Sakura suddenly became nervous. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Well, I went to work, ate food, and talked to Naruto." She tried saying the last part as fast as possible so that Ino couldn't hear it.

"What. Oh my God, what happened?" but Ino heard her.

"Nothing much really," Ino gave her a look basically saying 'I don't believe you.'

"I ran into him trying to take a shortcut and we talked."

"What did you talk about? Come on there has to be more than that." Ino wasn't satisfied with her answer.

Sakura recalled their conversation. "Well, it was awkward at first, we haven't been that close for so long." Sakura started smiling, "and then, he talked too. It felt like old times and it was nice."

"But he left shortly afterwards." Sakura said in a way that gave Ino the hint that that conversation was over.

Sakura didn't want to talk about it anymore. She was afraid that the more she said it, the more it became just another simple memory to her.

The two girls sat there in her living room, not saying anymore.

"Oh crap, I promised Tsunade that I would be in the hospital today." Sakura scrambled to get up and get her things. "Turn the lights off for me when you leave, Ino. Bye."

Sakura ran out of the room, leaving Ino behind.

"Fine, just leave me here. All alone."

--------------------------

"Goddamnit!" Naruto exclaimed out loud. He was trying to change into his clothes, but the wound on his side was still hurting too much for him to do so.

Naruto examined his side.

'Hey fox, couldn't you just heal this already?'

**"I did, it's just that the wound is so deep that I can't heal it all, or ease the pain." **The Kyuubi replied to him.

Naruto gave up.

He walked over to his room to rest some more.

_'I miss you.'_

How those three little words made him so happy. He wasn't expecting to see her there. Well, it was the, as in the only one, hospital of Konoha, so he should have anticipated the moment, but...he didn't. So when she unexpectedly ran into him, he didn't know what to do.

The moment he saw her, he froze on the spot.

He couldn't believe what he said to her. He feared he was too bold, but then she seemed to not mind. When she smiled, it was the greatest feeling he ever felt in so long. He was so happy hearing her gentle laugh again.

He missed that.

Just being able to be with her and making her laugh and escape the world.

It was his duty and his alone. It was his given job to make her smile and laugh.

Although he had failed a number of times.

"Sakura-chan."

------------------

It was only around four o'clock, but the sky was starting to get dark.

The clouds were quickly turning into a darker, purple color as it moves along, complaining loudly as it does so. Never had Konoha seen the sky so angry, so omnipotent to everything else. It was disgruntled, grumbling and moaning its cry upon the village.

Disheveled by the mighty purple veil of the sky, the villagers were scurrying every way, tumbling and falling over each other.

"Hurry home!" Was their battle cry. Each and every person took their stance; some helped the fallen and others helped the hastened. The rest went to their sanctuaries, ready to wait it out.

The sky groaned and growled, roaring and bellowing its cries.

Soon vicious bullets fell from the sky, descending to the earth. They were relentless, violently hammering the earth and its inhabitants with ferocious speed.

They were thick, full, and ardent in what they did.

The attacks dragged along. Spreading its destruction everywhere.

No one was safe, no could escape it.

Never had Konoha seen such magnificent power.

"This storm is going to ruin my clothes!" An old man with striking white hair exclaimed.

"Since when did you care?" An old woman with modest blonde hair howled back.

Jiraiya looked at her with displeased eyes, but he abated his anger by remembering who she was. "Anyway, why did you call me here again?"

Tsunade took some time to answer him back.

"Remember when you came to me with news about four months ago?"

The sannin retreated to his memory, trying to recall the labeled time. "Ah of course. Four months ago...yes I remember."

--------------------------

_**Four months ago...**_

_"So, how did it go?"_

_"It wasn't bad, he cooperated most of the time." _

_"Did you learn anything?"_

_"Nothing of much importance." Ibiki simply said. Tsunade thought for a moment._

_"Good, good." Tsunade stood up and walked over to the window. "Tell me, though,"  
_

_Ibiki turned his head so that he was facing her._

_"You didn't have any intentions of hurting him right?"_

_"Of course not!" Ibiki was surprised that Tsunade would even think such a thing. _

_"Alright. That is all. You did your job well." Ibiki stood up and bowed his head in respect before he left the room._

_Tsunade was left in the room, she was thinking about something that seemed important. _

_"So, how did it go?" A man's voice said from out of nowhere. _

_'I'm going to need more sake.' Tsunade turned around to see Jiraiya. "Well, it is not enough for anything, but he took the bait."_

_"I knew it." Jiraiya walked over to a nearby chair to sit down. Tsunade followed his lead and sat down as well._

_"Ibiki, before the interrogation, was notified clearly and with great care to get everything he could about Sasuke. He was told to use brute force if necessary..."_

_Tsunade stopped to see if Jiraiya was still listening._

_"Go on." He motioned to her with his head._

_"As part of a test that we conducted, and on the advice of the elders, we placed in the room a glass cup."  
_

_"And I presume this is where you try to get him." He cut in, already seeing where this was going._

_"Correct. It worked like a charm." Tsunade said, not particularly fond that it did. "See, before it all, Ibiki was given strict orders to report back to me a reply to a certain question."_

_"When I asked him what he learned, he was supposed to say nothing, but instead he did." Tsunade went on. "And when I asked him about using violence and he replied no was-"_

_"Just a bonus." Jiraiya finished her sentence. He understood now what had happened. "But you still don't have enough on him?"_

_"We have proof that Uchiha Sasuke used some sort of drug that skews one's memories, but it's not substantial enough." Tsunade didn't need to answer that. "Did you learn anything?"_

_"Yes, actually." Jiraiya had been ordered to look for information regarding the Uchiha and anyone he came in contact with. He gained a little knowledge that may be important. "Yes, Itachi is dead. No, Orochimaru is still alive somewhere. And as far as I could get, no one knows what the Uchiha wants."_

_"I see." Tsunade couldn't understand his motive. Why was he here now after all he had been through and why did Orochimaru vanish all of a sudden soon after Sasuke came back?_

_"Tsunade," Jiraiya snapped her back to the real world, "you should keep an eye on him." _

_"Agreed."_

_-------------------------_

"So, what about it?" He asked.

Tsunade sweat dropped.

'Could he be that dense sometimes?'

"What do you think!" She yelled.

"I-I..don't think?"

She gave up, sometimes it was just impossible talking to him. "We've got something."

Jiraiya stopped his goofing around to hone in on the situation.

"We've been watching him for sometime, but not until recently did we actually get him."

"What happened?"

Tsunade didn't know how to explain it. She had authorized for ANBU to check-up on Sasuke every now and then, they got a few things before, but not until recently did they really get him.

"We've been watching him for sometime now," she began from the beginning since she couldn't think of another way of telling him, "at first, he didn't do anything suspicious, but we caught him one night lurking around Naruto's apartment building. And later that very same night, one ANBU caught him spying on a room in the building. We guessed it was Naruto's, but he didn't do anything."

Jiraiya didn't say a word but instead let Tsunade continue with her story.

"After that, we didn't see much of him. It was not until a couple of days ago that he slipped,"

Jiraiya was attentively listening. "He came home one day and," Tsunade took a pause, "ANBU reported sightings of another man in his room, silver haired, wearing glasses..."

"Kabuto!" Jiraiya figured it out, although he was sure why Kabuto would be at Sasuke's house of all places, he had a clue, but he sure wished he was wrong. "Tsunade, do you realize that,"

"I know." Tsunade interrupted him. "We know nothing much, but I fear they want Naruto."

Tsunade took sometime just sitting there, contemplating on what to do. She had given orders to take in the Uchiha for further investigations, but if they were wrong about him… she just couldn't think straight right now.

Tsunade moved her head to look up, when she suddenly felt someone's chakra spike it. It wasn't hers, nor Jiriaya's because she would have felt it a long time ago. It was a familiar chakra, that she knew well.

"Sakura?" Tsunade asked whoever was standing behind the door. Just when she said that, Sakura walked in the room with her expression lost and confused.

"What?" her voice sounded confused.

Tsunade stood up, fearing that Sakura may have heard something she was better off not knowing. "How long have you been standing there?" She demanded, her voice was commanding, trying to scare her away from that place.

"I heard everything." Sakura had been walking to her office when she heard them talking, she was about to walk away, but then she heard Naruto's name, and so she stayed. She lowered her chakra level so no one could sense her, the Hokage herself taught her that, as she listened. The more she heard about it, the more she couldn't believe it. She thought of many things, but most importantly, she just wanted to go to Naruto to sort this out. "Why were you talking about Naruto?"

Tsunade thought about just dismissing her and telling her to forget about what she heard, but she knew Sakura and she wouldn't stop until she got want she wanted. So she told her, not adding details that she didn't need to know, unless she asked specifically for it. She told her about the ANBU missions to spy on Sasuke, how they learned that there was more to him than what he says, and the idea that they, whoever they are, are planning something that involves Naruto.

"Naruto?" She couldn't handle all the information that she just heard, but she asked for it so she had to. She couldn't believe Sasuke would do such a thing, after all that they have been through. Why would he want to help out Kabuto and why Naruto? Naruto!

'I have to go to him!' She thought. Maybe there's something more that they don't know that he does. Sakura ran out of the room and to his house.

"Sakura!" Tsunade tried to call her back.

"Let it go, Tsunade. She probably just needs time to sort things out for herself." Jiraiya tried to offer her.

Tsunade was tempted to run after her, but she knew Jiraiya was right and she couldn't do anything more.

'Sakura.'

----------------------

'This rain sure is vicious.' Naruto thought as he looked outside his window. He couldn't sleep so he just gave up, deciding that he would just stay up and wait the night out.

He yawned as he stood up to walk to his kitchen to make himself some nice, hot cocoa.

On his way, he heard someone knocking at his door. He glanced at his clock to see that it was almost eleven.

'I wonder who it is.' Naruto walked to his door and opened it. Usually no one ever visits him, especially around his time of day and in this weather no less.

"Hey, it's kind of- Sakura?" There in front of him, was a soaking wet Sakura. "What are you doing, you can catch a cold!"

"I have to talk to you, may I come in?" Sakura asked him urgently.

"Sure, come in." Naruto moved aside so that she could come in. She was dripping some water on the floor because she was so wet. He noticed that she was shaking, which must have been from the rain and the cold.

"You can sit anywhere you want," he told her, "and wait here, I'll get you some towels to dry yourself with."

Sakura wanted to sit down, but she also didn't want to get any of his stuff wet, so she just stood there waiting for him. She was freezing in her clothes, but she couldn't take them off in here.

"Here." She turned around to see him. He gave her a towel to dry her body with and another to use as a blanket. After some time of drying herself, she became comfortable and sat down.

Naruto waited for her to talk since he didn't know what to do.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" She jumped right to the point. She was tired of waiting and pointless small talk that never really helped anyway. She wanted to get to the point right there. "And save me the small talk, Naruto."

Naruto didn't know how to answer her. "I don't know what you mean."

Sakura was becoming impatient, so she decided to help with his memory. "Sasuke, Kabuto, ring any bells?"

Kabuto. He hated hearing that name. He despised the man and wanted nothing more than a chance to kill him himself. He was confused as to why she was talking about Sasuke, though.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"God damn it!" Sakura couldn't hold it anymore. She knew that he knew something, there was this feeling deep within her saying so, and her gut instincts had never failed her yet.

"Sakura-chan, I really-"

"Stop it!" Sakura stood up, "Stop playing dumb. We both know you know something. So just tell, because I won't leave until I know it." Sakura was looking him in the eyes, adamant on getting whatever it is she wanted.

He knew what she meant, but he didn't know if he should tell her. Should he tell her? She already knew that something was up and so this couldn't really harm her.

"About three months ago," he began, "when I got home, I found someone in my house."

Sakura listened to his story. He told her about his encounter with Kabuto, about a deal he was forced to make, and all that. Naruto was vague with details, leaving out vital information here and there. But Sakura wasn't stupid. Being the most intelligent ninja in her class, she was smart enough to put the pieces together. He said very little for her to know much, but she put parts by parts and she ended up with something.

"This deal you made, what was it?"

Naruto didn't know how to answer that without telling her everything.

And so he said nothing, but instead he lifted his head and faced her.

He looked at her. Eye to eye, they connected. He was telling her what he was too weak to say in words. With his look, he told her everything she ever needed to know. It was the only way he could do so, he was too afraid to say it out loud because of an unknown fear in him. So he directed all his feelings to that one look, which said so many things to her.

You. For you. Only you.

I did it because I wanted to help you.

I did even when it tore me apart. Even if I had to break your heart.

It has always been you.

She heard it all. Everything he said. All his reasons why.

His eyes told her everything.

"Why?" She was crying now. "Why did you do that?"

She couldn't understand why Naruto has to save everyone all the time, even if it caused him pain too. She couldn't understand why people would put themselves' through pain.

"Sakura-chan." That's all he said.

"Naruto why? I never asked for you to protect me!" She felt something on her chest trying to break out. She knows he only did it for her, but she couldn't control the feeling of anger and frustration that is building up in her right now.

"It is not for you to decide." He said simply, not at all affected by her words.

Sakura was irked by his words. "I have a choice. I should be able to decide for my own."

"Sometimes, there are choices you just can't make yourself."

Sakura couldn't say anything. He was right, it wasn't hers. She knew he only did what he thought was best, but it stilled angered her.

"Why didn't you just-"

"Sakura-chan,-" he interrupted her. "Do you realize how hard it was for me to do that?"

Sakura listened to him.

"Having no choice! To have had you at last, only to let you go." Naruto looked her in the eyes. He wanted her to hear him say these words to her. This indescribable feeling on his chest was tearing him and he just had to let it out. It was crawling on, choking and suffocating him.

"When you love someone,"

Sakura was in the same pain. She was finally understanding him. All those years she thought she knew him is now just a mere memory as she is finally seeing the real him. The Naruto that everyone accepted and appreciated. She finally understood why.

"You do everything you can to make that person happy, whether they agree or not." The feeling in his chest became unbearable, and then Naruto felt warm tears slipping down his face. All his loneliness, his isolation, and his guilt poured down with it. It was amazing to him how quickly he came to tears. He didn't even tried to fight it off, he accepted it, embraced it with much sincerity. "And then their happiness becomes yours."

"Sakura,"

Sakura listened to him cry out, calling to her. She felt his pain, the burden he lived with.

"I only did it because I love you."

She couldn't believe what she just learned. It saddened her, pained her, and made her happy.

All this time she had never felt his words more genuine, more tangible than now.

She couldn't say anything else after that. There was nothing else to say. So she let her body take control, allowing herself to get lost in the moment and finally taking what she wanted for so long.

She walked to him.

Naruto stiffened a little. The sight of Sakura approaching made him nervous, and the fact that her eyes were read from tears and her face so tired from crying only added to the effect.

He didn't stop her, but only stood there.

"Naruto…" she said in a low, husky voice because her throat had been dried.

They were inches from each other, their heartbeats were racing, and the temperature in the room rocketed up. She reached out to him, first rubbing his arms up and down and then moving in closer. He stood still, unable to make a move. She looks him and their eyes lock.

"I'm sorry." her eyes were full of guilt as she looked him in the eyes.

He said to her that he would not stop her and only let her lead him.

She told him that she wasn't going to stop now.

"Sakura-chan…" He said quietly as her lips softy grazed his.

She stands on her toes to reach his height and without warning, she kisses him.

Everything turned black and they fell into a blissful world. She had forgotten everything that happened between them and only focused on what she was doing now.

He let slip of his memory and only knows her.

All those months of waiting, after all those anguish, they finally succumbed to their dreams. They no longer fought it, but rather welcomed it with much joy.

Time stood still for a brief second just for them, for this moment in their lives.

Sakura kisses him forcefully, bruising him as she did so. She wraps her hands around him, holding on tight because she might let him go.

He gave in to her, gave up everything that he could be risking just to be with her now.

Her hands were snaking through his hair, over his arms, and his body. She wanted to feel him again and he wanted the same. He held her tight around his waist, securing her in place so she doesn't leave.

She moved her hands under his shirt then pulled it back up.

They parted for a quick second so he could take it off. Once it was off, he immediately picked her up.

She wraps her legs around his waist for support as he carried her into his room.

Outside, the sky thundered and poured atop the village.

Soon it was going to be morning and the world would move on.

-------------------

**End of Chapter 9/10 part one.**

**Look for once no cliffy. **

**Umm, okay so that's it. **

**Please review before you leave, thankyou.**

**Bye.**


	11. Awakening

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I have terrible news. Masashi Kishimoto had gotten in a terrible accident involving a banana peel and a pair of Dr. Scholl's most comfortable slippers (hey, that was punny). As he lies horribly bruised in bed in the hospital, he had given me absolutely no authority to claim Naruto, not even for a day. He did give me, however, his best wishes that someday I may be as rich as he is.

**AN's:**

**For those who were wondering if Sakura knows about the poison, the answer is yes. It was a combination of Naruto's vague explanation and the looked her gave her after she asked him why. She put the two together, and figured out why.**

**As for Naruto, yes, he completely forgot about the poison. He was too lost in the moment to care anymore and he just couldn't hold his desires any longer, and so he took what he wanted. He forgot everything that he knows, forgot that the poison is still running through her, just so he could live in that moment with her. Also, he couldn't deny Sakura anymore.**

**Also, the poison is activated by his chakra, so whenever he uses it, it will cause the poison to activate. That's why he didn't really harm her when they broke up. In the hospital, he was healing himself, so Sakura became a bit woozy, but back at his house he couldn't do anything more to the wound so he just stopped all together. So, it only works when he uses his chakra. **

**Thanks to templar132, who is the greatest beta reader ever. He helps out so much with this story, and without him, this story would be so crappy. **

**Thanks to all that reviewed. I really appreciate it. More than you may think. **

**-**---------------------------------

**Summary: Naruto and Sakura had always wanted to be together and they finally were after so many years. But, thing didn't stay that way. Just when they started dating, a man so sick that he pleasures torturing people, forced Naruto to break with her. He had no choice, he would rather be distant from her and see her everyday than live with the pain of her death; and so he broke up with her. They endured months without each other, but last night, they finally took what they wanted and gave in. Meanwhile, as Sasuke falls more into the dark, he eventually makes a deal with Orochimaru, hoping to get Sakura and finally getting rid of Naruto. But, what he didn't know was that he had been under surveillance since day one. And now, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke find out the dire consequences of taking risks...**

--------------

Previously

--------------

_All those months of waiting, after all those anguish, they finally succumbed to their dreams. They no longer fought it, but rather welcomed it with much joy. _

_Time stood still for a brief second just for them, for this moment in their lives. _

_Sakura kisses him forcefully, bruising him as she did so. She wraps her hands around him, holding on tight because she might let him go._

_He gave in to her, gave up everything that he could be risking just to be with her now. _

_Her hands were snaking through his hair, over his arms, and his body. She wanted to feel him again and he wanted the same. He held her tight around his waist, securing her in place so she doesn't leave._

_She moved her hands under his shirt then pulled it back up. _

_They parted for a quick second so he could take it off. Once it was off, he immediately picked her up._

_She wraps her legs around his waist for support as he carried her into his room. _

_Outside, the sky thundered and poured atop the village. _

_Soon it was going to be morning and the world would move on._

**---------------------**

**Chapter 11: Awakening. **

**--------------------**

There was a knock at the door.

"Shikamaru?"

Ino knocks on the door again.

"Hey, you in there?"

There was no reply, she was about to walk away when the door opened.

"Hey, sorry, come in." Shikamaru looked like he just woke up.

Ino walked into house as Shikamaru closed the door behind her.

"Can I get you something?" He offered her, trying to be polite.

It was really early in the morning, maybe too early for her to be visiting, but Ino had to see him now. She had been thinking about what Sakura had told her to do all night. And now she wanted nothing more than to resolve all of this.

"No, I'm fine."

But then again she was still scared of being too bold and of mankind's biggest fear, rejection!

"Listen, about what I said to you."

Shikamaru cut her off, "Don't worry about it. We were just annoyed and said things we didn't mean."

Ino looked down, ashamed to remember the things she had said to him. "I'm still sorry."

"It's okay." He assured her. "If anything, I should be sorry. I acted like a complete jerk."

"Me too."

"Okay, so we were both jerks that night." He said it as a joke, trying to light up the situation.

The two shared a nice laugh.

Realizing that they had been standing by the door the entire time, Shikamaru invited Ino into his living room.

"So, did you need something?"

Ino took a deep breath. Okay, she had practiced this last night, all she needed to do was just say it. "We need to talk."

"I thought that that's what we're already doing?"

Ino gave him a look, but she smiled.

"Well, I got a smile. Better than nothing."

Ino couldn't help but love that about him. He always knew what to say to make her feel better. And that's why she had come today at his house, to tell him that herself.

"Shikamaru…" Ino began but lost her words.

"Yes?"

"For all the years I've known you…"

She looked at him, he was looking at her, never breaking eye contact.

"I never once-" She was silenced.

Shikamaru backed away.

Ino feels the warm spot where he had just kissed her.

"Wha…" Ino was speechless, she was taken by surprise.

"Ino, I can't hold it anymore…I love you." Shikamaru finally admitted to her, he couldn't hide it any longer.

"Shikamaru."

**--------------------**

THUD!!!

The door flies open, its sides shattering into many small pieces. Four men wearing arrays of animal masks marches in.

Having been startled by the door, Sasuke jumped off his bed and entered his living room.

When he arrived there, he saw three ANBU standing by the threshold and another one heading his way.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He asked, very much irked by their rude trespassing.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the ANBU that walked towards him un-scrolled a scroll and started reading from it, "by the authority of the Village Council and the Hokage, you are hereby under arrest for treason."

"What?!"

The man rolled up his scroll. The ANBU then turned around and gave the orders to his subordinates.

Sasuke didn't have enough time to think about what was happening or do anything about it.

The two other ANBU bound his hands behind his back, making sure it was tight enough so he couldn't do anything. They soon dragged him out of the Uchiha compound and back to the Hokage tower.

Sasuke struggled and protested as he was tugged along, but the ANBU Black Ops paid no attention to him.

--------------------

Small droplets of water slowly tumbled from the roof tops, landing gently on the wet ground. Some of it attached themselves to the grass and others turned into mist hovering over the earth.

The air was cool and soothing.

Quietly, the birds hummed tranquility to the calm village.

The people were still inside, hushed by the delicate, peaceful hands of nature.

Naruto could make out soft avian murmurs as he lazily lied in bed, numbed under sweet serenity.

He slowly picks up someone's low whispers. Her alluring voice slowly woke him up.

"Naruto, wake up."

He blinks once…twice…so his vision would clear up. He opens his eyes to see his lovely flower hovering above him.

"Hey there." The young girl said ever so softly.

"Hey." He said in the same manner. Sakura shifted her position so that she was now lying next to him, placing her head on the crook of his neck and her hand on his bare chest.

Briskly, the wind breezed in, feeling cold and sharp against their naked form. Naruto pulls on the bed covering so that they were once again under its protecting shield.

For a minute, they just stayed there, too lazy to get up.

Naruto listened to her soft breathing, feeling her chest expand and contract against his. He held her tighter by wrapping his arms around her more, almost engulfing her entire body.

She made no signs of protest, but instead did the same.

They were drifting into sleep again.

---------------------

Sasuke was thrown into a room and forced to sit down on the only chair.

"You can't just do this to me!" Sasuke yelled at the guard.

"Shut up!" The guard tightened the rope around his wrist, just to hear him wince in pain.

Sasuke groaned in pain.

"Now, just sit your ass down until the Hokage comes in."

Sasuke wanted so much to just punch the guy, but he was literally tied up at the moment. He tried easing his hands through the rope, but it didn't work. He couldn't do any jutsus because he couldn't even move his hands. He was bound to the chair. (AN: ehh, it's a special rope, so he can't do jutsus...)

'Is it possible that they know?' He asked himself. Why did they arrest him, brusquely knocking down the door, and taking him in? Was it possible that they have found him out?

He felt the fear crawling up his stomach to his throat and on his back.

What is Orochimaru going to think of this?

If he doesn't find a way out of this, he just might find himself in a dilemma that he would rather not be a part of.

He wondered if they had found him out, finally saw through his deceit. He knew if he was found out that it would be the end of him.

He had to get out of there…he had to get out of there now!

He looks around, but the room was blocked from everything, No windows, no vents, just a door and a very pissed off guard. He was tied to the chair so he couldn't just run for it.

But then again he saw all those guards they had outside, just waiting for him to make one wrong move. All those guards waiting for him to make a run for it.

No, he couldn't run now.

He would wait…wait for the perfect moment to make his move and disappear forever.

---------------------------

"Hungry?" Sakura asked as she sat on the comfortable mattress. 

They had just gotten off bed, after about an hour or two...or three...of just helplessly lying there and doing a lot of 'catching-up.'

"Ramen?" Naruto asked her like a child asking for ice cream.

She chuckles. "Ramen it is." It was almost three after noon and so they really needed eat after all that.

They took a moment to just look at each other. It was nice to finally be able to do this again. Just the two of them, talking and laughing. He couldn't stop looking at her, after all those months without her, he just couldn't get enough of her.

Naruto walked over to the bed where she was currently sitting.

Sakura could only watch him.

He sat down beside her and just looked at her beautiful emerald eyes that he loved so much and he touched her body that had lusted for.

Sakura smiled at him.

"I love you." He said before he kissed her.

He felt a jolt of electricity run through him the moment he touched her soft, pink lips. It made his hair rise and excited him.

Her lips were so soft and the sensation he got was thrilling.

He wanted more.

He slowly leaned in, making her moan in pleasure and surprise. He planted small, quick kisses on her lips before finally asking for entrance. She soon replied and he wasted no time and dives right in.

He held her head as he leans her down on the bed. His one hand was playing with her hair as the other traveled down and up her side, back, and front. He moves his kisses to her cheek, jaw, and finally to her neck. There he stayed nibbling her softly and kissing her passionately.

"Naruto…" she moaned his name.

"Yes?" He asks, taking a quick break from kissing her to say that.

"We need to…" she said in between moans, "get up."

"Let's not, I like doing this." Naruto snakes one hand under her shirt, trying to rid her of the material.

"I'm serious!" She couldn't have sounded more fake as she said that. This entire time she had been enjoying it as well, she was just trying to be reasonable. "We need to get away from this room."

Naruto stopped kissing her and pulled his hand out of her shirt. "Fine."

"And take a shower!" Sakura joked…well not really.

-------------------

"Hokage-sama." Shizune walked into her office. "They are waiting for you." 

Tsunade was standing in front of the window, deep in thought about something. She was currently in her hospital office instead of the Hokage Tower, mainly because she had duties in the hospital today.

"Hokage-sama?"

The elderly lady did not respond.

"They're waiting for-"

"Okay." She finally said.

Shizune couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with her, she knew that face Tsunade made sometimes, usually when something is wrong.

"Is everything, okay?" She asked to her.

She thought about that question long and hard.

Is everything okay…?

"Remember when times used to be simpler?" The Hokage asked her assistant.

"Hokage-sama?"

"I remember then," Tsunade completely ignored her, but continued with her point instead, "I never had to worry about everything. Then, it was me, the world, and all its treasures. I could be somewhere out there right now, somewhere away from it all. Talking up with old friends about the days long gone, reminiscing or forgetting about the past I've left behind, hell and even playing a little bit of cards."

Tsunade could still clearly remember her old days. She saw it as vividly as if it was happening now. She could feel the touch of the cards against her hands, see the faces of people she can't remember the names of. She could even taste her precious sake just by thinking about it.

"Those were the days," she continued, "no worries, just getting by. I remember one time my biggest problem was how to get money so I could get more sake," she chuckled a little upon remembering, "but now…that's all gone. Now, everyone and everything depends on me, on what I do. If I make one wrong move, someone is thrown into prison, banished for all eternity, and sometimes someone even dies."

"Well, we can't always control what we do." She offers as a consolation.

"Do we ever have control of it?" Tsunade asked her.

"…" The younger woman was a bit surprised by her words. Since when did Tsunade think like this…cracking under the pressure that she had long since been carrying? If the villagers were to find out the Hokage herself is beginning to doubt their own self existence all hell was sure to break loose. Chaos descending from unknown dimensions, demons crawling out from earth itself, and the…Shizune stopped her thoughts before they got out of hand.

"Ha, we all just think we have control of it when indeed some higher power controls us all," Shizune was again surprised to hear her talk like this, like everything was lost and there was no hope, but only doom and destruction, "…nothing is okay anymore, Shizune."

Tsunade looked outside to the gloomy, ominous village. "I just can't shake this feeling that something terrible is about to happen."

Tsunade took in a deep breath…

"So, do they have him?" Tsunade changed the conversation.

"Y-yes, they have taken him and placed him under security." Shizune told her, "and now they are just waiting for your order."

Order.

She hated that word. Every time she made one, something bad seemed to happen, and the way she was feeling now didn't help ease that.

"Tell them to go ahead and start, I'll just be there."

Shizune bowed her head in respect before leaving.

Soon, the ANBU would start interrogating, maybe even torturing Sasuke. She had given that order and now they would follow it.

What if he is innocent after all?

She would ask herself. Then again, everything up to this point suggested he was anything but that. Though she wished that her greatest fears were not to be confirmed.

If Sasuke was in fact tainted with that snake bastard's influence, she feared that she would be too late to foil whatever their plan was…

---------------------------

Sasuke sat alone in the middle of an empty room.

'I need to get out of here.' He said to himself.

The more he stayed there the more he knew he was going to get caught. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen. If he was caught now…he knew Orochimaru would do everything to finish up this mess of theirs. Meaning that he would eliminate all that had come into contact with him, all the plans they had conspired would abruptly end.

Orochimaru would kill him, if the ANBU agents didn't do it first.

Then he would go after Sakura, maybe just for the thrill of it, and he would kill her too. Killing Sakura would be easiest for him to do considering he had the poison and could easily activate it…or so he was led to believe.

And then finally, he would go after Naruto. He would get his body, that he was sure of, and use it for the worst…the destruction of Konoha with the fox's help.

He needed to get out of there…

But how was he going to do that?

No windows to just jump out of, no ventilation to crawl in, nothing.

Nothing…except the door.

---------------------------

Tsunade was currently sitting down in her office.

This day was going by too slowly.

She didn't like that she couldn't do anything else for the rest of the day.

She would have gone to see what they were doing to the Uchiha, but the council strictly gave her orders to let ANBU handle it.

Those senile old jerks! She hated them so much sometimes, always telling her to do this and that, and that she can't do this or that. She didn't even know why they wanted to piss her off so much.

Deciding that standing there and being bitter about it wouldn' help her at all, Tsunade decided that it was better if she just went for a quick walk around the hospital.

-----------------------------

Naruto stepped out of the shower, grabbing the towel as he did. He wrapped it around himself and walked over to the mirror to check himself.

His eyes looked tired and his hair was still wet from the shower he had just taken. He looked at his face examining himself.

'Why does this feel so familiar?' He asked himself.

Naruto noticed that the wound had finally healed, but it left him one nasty scar.

'Hey fox, did you do this?' Naruto returned to the dark realm of his mind.

"**Yeah."**

'I thought you said you couldn't do it anymore.' Naruto said as he put on his pajama pants.

"**I did," **the Kyuubi began, **"but after the jolt of energy you got last night while you were rekindling your romance, your chakra level shot up and so I decided to help you out, otherwise, you would have been wailing in pain the entire night."**

Naruto ran a finger along it. He was amazed as to how fast the Kyuubi could…

WAIT!

Naruto's heart started to speed up, the hair on his arm and neck stood erect as a wave of fear washed over him.

'CHAKRA!'

"Ahhhhhh!" A woman's scream rang out followed by sounds of metals clashing.

Naruto jumped at the sound of the blood-curling scream.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!"

Naruto dashed out of the bathroom and surged through the hallway.

'Kami! What have I done?!'

How could he forget?! Of all the things he could have done wrong, why did he make this mistake?

How could he have forgotten that the very reason he broke-up with her in the first place was because of what was happening now!

Naruto ran quicker, hoping to all the gods and everyone that he would not be too late.

When he got there, he found Sakura lying flat on the floor.

He felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" He fell down by her side, trying to shake her awake.

Nothing.

His breathing was getting heavier and heavier.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!" He screamed it so loud it would have awakened the dead.

Nothing.

Without even thinking, he picked her up and rushed out the window.

He jumped from rooftop to rooftop as fast as he could.

'Please hold on.'

He didn't even care that he was only wearing pants and that the air pierced him like a knife, he had to get Sakura to the hospital.

------------------------

"I NEED A DOCTOR!" He screamed as soon as he got in. The receptionist was about to scold him for yelling, but she noticed that he was carrying someone with him. She immediately picked up the phone and started calling for help.

Sakura started to shake uncontrollably. Her body temperature was starting to drop.

Naruto couldn't stand just waiting there, so he started to head to the hospital rooms. He was scurrying through the halls, passing through many other patients as he searched for an empty room.

He held on tight to her, even though her shaking made it hard for him.

He finally found an empty one on the end of the hall.

His heart was trying to jump out of his chest. All he could think about getting Sakura in there.

He placed her onto the bed.

Naruto was shaking just as much as Sakura was, he didn't know what to do, he knew he had to go far away, but he couldn't just leave her there without anyone.

Just then, a doctor walked in, followed by a number of nurses. Soon, she was crowded with medical employees.

"We're going to need you to step outside, sir." One nurse said to him.

Naruto protested, saying that he needed to know if she was going to be alright.

"We need you to step outside, sir." She repeated.

Naruto fought no more, he wasn't going to win this.

Naruto walked out of the room, his heart was pounding through his chest.

He wanted to see what they were doing in there, but he remembered he was doing this to her. And so he ran far away, but close enough for him to still be able to see.

'Please be alright.'

Naruto couldn't help but blame himself for all this. It was entirely his fault that she was in this position now. If he hadn't done what he did, if he had just said 'no' to her, then she might still be walking right now. If he had just controlled his emotions at that one brief moment when she kissed him…

"Clear!"

Thump!

He could hear them trying to bring her back.

"Clear."

THUMP!

He could hear them yelling out;

_Her heart is slowing down! She's not responding! Get Tsunade in here! 40 bpm! Give her some….we can't…forget it….we have no choice! Clear! _

_Doctor? We…Where is that…30 bpm…this is not good…give…defibrillator…15 bpm…_

"Cl..r"

THUMP!

Thump,thump.

"C…!"

Thump, thump.

"..ar."

Everything around him became quiet as his heart drowned out everything else.

Thump, thump.

He was scared for the worst, he was scared that she would…die.

Thump, thump.

The last thing he saw was Tsunade running in the room before everything turned black.

------------------------

….

….

"…"

"…_wake…sir…slee.."_

Naruto could hear faint sounds of someone's voice.

"_W..ke…you…ed…your…"_

Where was he?

"_You need to…sir…you…sleeping…"_

His body felt heavy and cold. He was freezing in there.

"_Sir, you need to wake up, you've been sleeping."_

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. At first he couldn't make out anything, but after some time, his sight came back. He saw a nurse standing right in front of him, apparently waking him up for sleeping there.

"You really shouldn't be sleeping there. It's almost eight o'clock sir, we have a waiting room, you know, you could sleep in there."

It was then that he remembered where he was. He had gone to the hospital and had fallen asleep in the hallway.

He wiped the sleep off his eyes. His face felt cold, almost wet.

Had he been crying?

"How is she?" He asked the young women.

"You need to go to the waiting room, sir."

"How is she!?" He asked again, only this time with a little demand behind it.

"…" the nurse said nothing, she only looked away from him.

Naruto heart's stopped beating. "Is she…is ssshe…dead?"

"No, she's not." Naruto turns his head to the left to see Tsunade walking his way. His heart eased a little…but only a little. "Naruto, I need to speak to you in private."

She motioned him to follow her to another room where they could converse.

"Close the door behind you." She said as she walked in the room.

He does what he was told.

"Tsunade-" Naruto was about to ask her more question about Sakura, but then she cut him off.

"Naruto, I'm not going to lie to you…"

He became quiet and grave. He knew where this was going…

"Sakura is okay…for now." Tsunade stopped her sentence as she tried looking for the best words for her to say now, "Naruto…I don't know how to say this…"

"She's dying."

Her words struck him hard, struck him fast. He didn't know how to respond to that…he didn't know...he couldn't...he.

This couldn't be happening.

Tsunade felt the same way. It was hard for her to say those words, as if by doing do she admitted and accepted that it was true...that there was no way to cure it...to stop it from happening.

But it was.

Even if they couldn't handle it, the truth was there and it was going to happen.

"H-hhow..." Naruto couldn't even say the words. He was overwhelmed with emotions...grief, anger, frustration, regret, and guilt.

It was his fault, his choice that she was now clinging on to the very small amount of life left in her.

"Her organs are deteriorating...slowly, one by one each is shutting down."

Hearing her say those words were like bullets piercing through his skin, slowly and painfully.

"It would seem that she has something within her blood that's causing this," There was really no other way to say this and so Tsunade just said it, "at first it will attack her nervous system, killing off all her sensory neurons so that she couldn't react to anything. She could be cutting herself and not feel a thing. This thing inside her, it has manifested itself into something that could adapt to her environment and function as anything throughout her body. It could attack her brain, shut down her motor, olfactory, her sight...everything that is controlled by her brain. Then it will travel back down...weakening her bones so that she can no longer stand, then her muscles so she can't move, and then it will kill everything else. After that, it will come back up to her heart, through her veins and into her ventricles where it will disrupt the function of the heart. It will force open the valves and force backflow, and it will stop the pumping of oxygenated blood until she suffocates, and then...she dies."

Her words stabbed him like a knife, bombarding him with guilt and anger.

Each sound she made only makes it worse.

Not only will Sakura die...but she will die in pain and torture.

All because of him!

He wanted to punch himself, apologize to her and tell her that he was a fool.

The pain was too much for him to take, too real for him to bear.

It slowly ate him up inside, at first making him completely infuriated with himself, then more, it wanted him to vent out his anger on anything or anyone, and then finally it shriveled him up inside, provoking him to weep rivers of tears.

The guilt inside his hollow heart made him suffocate...he could have stopped all this...he could have prevented it all.

The warm tears flowed down his face, streaming fast and endlessly. It didn't stop, he couldn't do anything to make it stop anymore. He thought he had cried his last, but...

"Naruto, we can still save her..."

His head shot up.

Hope.

There was hope still.

They could still save her!

Tsunade saw the sudden color appear in his face and she finally saw his teary red eyes. She felt so much pity for him right now, but she also felt his pain.

This was Sakura after all.

They both shared a love for this girl, however different love.

She was her daughter and she couldn't imagine losing her just as much as Naruto could. And so she understood why he was this way and knew that he didn't have to say a word for her to go on.

"This thing in her, it can still be reversed."

Then Naruto decided to cut in...he had to tell her now before it was too late.

"Tsunade, I have something I need to tell you, something about Sakura."

-----------------------

Thud!

Sasuke's head rose.

He heard someone's body crashing against the floor.

He tried listening harder, but it became deadly silent outside again.

Maybe the guard just passed out. He thought so at least.

Slam!

The door sprang open.

Suddenly, energy came back to his body as the person standing in front of him was the one person he really needed right now.

"Took you long enough."

----------------------

"And that's how it all happened." Naruto finished telling her everything.

Tsunade didn't know how to react to it.

Kabuto had been in his room and had forced him to break up with Sakura.

There is a poison running through her veins.

"Why didn't you tell me of this earlier?" Tsunade asked him, wondering why he had kept it all to himself this entire time.

"Because I was scared..." Naruto finally admitted it, "I didn't know the full extent of what he could and will do and I...got scared. I could only think of her at that moment and now I realized that I made mistake. All this time, I could have stopped it all...but."

Tsunade couldn't believe all that she had heard. If it was all true then Sasuke was indeed a traitor, it was all the proof they needed to bring him down. Then she remembered Naruto still didn't know about it.

"Naruto, there is something you must know about Sasuke."

"Sasuke...what?" Naruto couldn't understand how this could relate to what they were talking about. How did Sasuke fit in to all this?

"You see, he has been lying to you the entire time."

_'What?'_

"He never wanted to come back here...he came back for the purpose of trying to help Orochimaru, and after hearing what you just told me, it only makes it clearer. And I fear that Kabuto is really Orochimaru now."

_'Sasuke...helping Orochimaru...for what? Wait, Kabuto is Orochimaru?'_

It really didn't take that much to realize at this point what they wanted.

Naruto just couldn't believe that his friend, his brother, would go to such an extent as to helping a bastard like Orochimaru.

"How do you know all this?" Naruto asked the elderly woman in front of him.

"We've been watching him for months-" 

"Sasuke couldn't have...he couldn't have." Naruto stopped her. He didn't want to believe that Sasuke was still that person after all this time. He thought he had gotten his friend back and now, his hearing all these things about him...and he just didn't want to hear it anymore.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but it's the truth."

"Please...just stop." Naruto hung his head. He couldn't handle hearing anymore bout his friend. He wanted to believe that Sasuke has finally come back and that he was Sasuke again...but now. "I've heard enough bad news for today...just please stop."

Tsunade felt sympathy for the young man. After hearing that the love of his life was on the verge of dying with only little hope to survive...and now Sasuke. It was amazing that Naruto could hold it all in inside.

"Our main focus now is helping Sakura." He said with more confidence now, wanting to just forget about Sasuke and just solve what was at hand first. 

Tsunade nodded.

Naruto immediately stood up with his new found hope.

"You should start now!" Naruto told her, even though Tsunade knew well that she should. His voice wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but it didn't sound doomed either.

Tsunade felt the sane way...but

It was just that she had never done this procedure before. It was her first time trying to do something like this, although she had cured a lot of poisons in her lifetime, but never like this before. She had to go in and manually kill the poison herself. Her first priority was to go to the heart, where most of it will take place. She had to contaminate the newly pumped blood to make sure that it would flow throughout her body. Just by injecting a cure would be useless because the poison had adapted enough to sense a foreign fluid and attack it before it could do anything. But by injecting it to her heart veins first, it had a better chance of getting far considering that the poison hadn't reached that far. Then she would inject it into all the other major organs...and hopefully, it will kill the poison so that it could no longer spread.

But, there is always the chance that she could mess up, accidentally inject it the wrong way or too much that her body would detect it as something lethal and kill off the cure before it could work.

"Naruto, the poison has mutated enough to function on its own," Tsunade decided to tell him after just remembering that. And now that she knew what Naruto knew, this information might be important for him to know. "If you say that you have activated it...then by now, it wouldn't matter if you were two inches from her or two miles...it has started to act on its own and it will not stop until it has completed its job.

Naruto understood what she meant.

Now, because the poison had evolved so much, he could no longer activate it because it had already started. So, he could be near Sakura and he wouldn't be making it worse.

"Okay, Tsunade." That's all he said.

Tsunade gave him a nod...it was time.

All that was left now was for her to kill this thing and Sakura would be okay.

All they needed to do now was just for her to carry out this operation and she would be alright.

The two stepped out of the room and walked towards her room.

"Hey, Tsunade...could I just have a moment to just-"

Tsunade knew what he was trying to say. He just wanted a minute with her to just be with her. "Go ahead."

--------------

Naruto walked slowly down the hall, his heart was still erratically beating out of his chest.

He was scared to go and see her, but he had to see her before…

He didn't know if it would work…but he trusted Tsunade. He trusted her with his life and so he knew that nothing could go wrong…but he still had to see her.

He had finally reached her room.

Slowly he opened the door and walked in.

It was cold in there and the silence was deafening.

"Sakura-" Naruto turned his head to where her bed would be…but she wasn't there.

His heart skipped a beat. It was terrifying. How could she not be there?! She was too heavily sedated to be able to get up…where was she?

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto frantically searched around the room, under the bed, anything.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" He yelled out her name in hopes that she may just answer.

Tsunade came running in the room. "What happened?" She then noticed that Sakura was missing. "What happened?" She repeated herself.

Naruto was starting to get completely terrified, but more than anything…he had a feeling he knew who took her.

The room, it reeked of his smell.

Naruto was trying to control the demon trying to get out of him.

Just then, an ANBU appears in the room.

"Hokage-sama, we have a problem. Uchiha Sasuke has escaped." The ANBU told her.

Naruto's eyes shot red in an instant and the room was engulfed in red chakra.

"SASUKE!!!"

------------------------

**End of Chapter 11**

**Okay, I must apologize if I neglected to explain fully what has happened.**

**But, bear with me here!**

**Eh... there is only like two or three chapters left.**

**Oky, I'm done.**

**Again, thanksto templar132, who is a really great beta reader and person. This chapter was infested with errors and just weird sentences untill he fixed it up for me...so thankyou.**

**And please review. **

**Bye for now...**


	12. Redemption Pt1

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: I'm currently out of stock with smart, witty disclaimers...but please feel free to check back later.

**Summary: After getting back together, Sakura was hospitalized after the effects of the poison started. Just when Tsunade was getting ready to undergo the operation, Sakura had mysteriously disappeared. Now, Naruto is on the prowl for the man he once thought of as his brother. **_**(I'm trying to make the summary short because I will give you guys a huge overview in the last chapter)**_

Thanks to all that reviewed on the story. I greatly appreciate it.

Also, thanks to templar132, the greatest beta reader ever. I mean, he keeps everything in check. Making sure all is well, that I update within a reasonable time period, and making sure that the chapters are presentable so that you guys could read and comprehend it. Seriously, he is awesome! I don't think this story would be as good without him.

Also, I'm sad to say that after this, I only have one chapter left.

That is it for the AN's.

_'thought'_

"talking"

**Inner self/Kyuubi**

_Flashbacks _

-------------------------

Previously

-------------------------

_Naruto was trying to control the demon trying to get out of him._

_Just then, an ANBU appeared in the room._

"_Hokage-sama, we have a problem. Sasuke has escaped." The ANBU told her._

_Naruto's eyes shot red in an instant and the room was engulfed in red chakra._

"_SASUKE!!!" _

-------------------------

**Chapter 12: Redemption Pt.1**

------------------------

"What do you mean he escaped!?" Tsunade bellowed at the ANBU in front of her.

The unfortunate ninja shivered in fear at her forceful voice.

"What in Kami's name were you doing!?"

The Hokage couldn't believe that ten black ops units couldn't manage to guard one boy. The ANBU, who has been trained and trained again to be professionals in what they do, could not handle one meager ninja. Alright, maybe Sasuke wasn't as scanty as she had thought, but with the given circumstances, you'd think Sasuke couldn't afford, or is even capable, of escaping without much bodily harm to be able to kidnap someone else.

"Hokage-sama...he did not escape on his own," the ANBU told her, "it would appear that someone let him out, there was no way he could have gotten out of there on his own."

The elder women's fury eased a bit. She could feel a migraine coming as she rubbed the temple of her forehead.

The latter statement of the ninja made her mind ease a little, but it also frightened her. It was comforting, yes, because she would have been ashamed to think that the special black ops couldn't conduct such small missions, if you could even call it that considering how low a job of a bodyguard is, but then again when an ANBU guards anyone, it never is a leisurely easy job.

She had suspected that Sasuke would try to escape, that's why she made sure to have a number of ANBUs guarding him, but she did not expect for this to happen.

She also feared what he had said because she knew...it had to be him.

There was only one man who would have gotten him out there, the very same man that placed him back in Konoha. It would explain the ease and swiftness in which it was done. Only a ninja with years of experience and proper training could possibly do such a thing in one easy sweep.

"How long since you found out?"

"Well, judging by the..."

"How long!?"

"About four hours ago." The ninja said inadequately.

Tsunade feared as much. Sasuke was not one to be underestimated, she knew that now, and estimating by how fast he went from the tower to the hospital and back out within three hours and not being noticed only meant that he had probably gotten far by now.

If what the ANBU reported was true, then Sasuke must have gotten Sakura right about the time she told Naruto about Sakura's condition.

"Go, you're dismissed." Tsunade sent the ANBU away.

The woman couldn't help but hope that Sasuke knew what he had done.

The poison in Sakura's body needed to be cured as soon as possible, but now that Sasuke had taken her, Tsunade feared that it was too late to save her.

Not unless Naruto got her back in time.

_Flashback..._

_Naruto's eyes shot red in an instant and the room was engulfed in red chakra._

"_SASUKE!!!" Naruto roared throughout the hospital._

_Everything in the room went flying as the chakra's power swirled around his body._

_Naruto's arms grew bigger, his entire body enlarged, and his canines slowly turned into fangs._

"_Naruto calm down." Tsunade tried to pacify the beast appearing in front of her. She didn't want Naruto to make a blind mistake by letting his emotions get the best of him._

_Naruto's hair grew considerably longer and his whisker marks darkened. _

"_Naruto! Stop it, if you want to help Sakura you must calm down!" Tsunade said as she tried to fight the gust of wind._

_Naruto growled._

_The windows shattered due to the harsh impact of the sudden burst of his chakra. The chairs, monitors, and even the bed started to shake. _

"_Naruto, you must stop."_

_Before anyone had the chance to do anything else, Naruto sprinted out the window._

"_Naruto!" Tsunade darted to the window, but Naruto was already gone, ensnared by his malicious demon._

"_Should we go after him, Hokage-sama?" The ANBU asked her._

_Tsunade had nearly forgotten that he was still in there._

"_No..." She wanted so much to just go after him herself, but she understood more that this was not her choice to decide for Naruto at this point, "...let him go."_

_Tsunade knew that only Naruto could do anything else at this point...it was not her battle._

_End Flashback._

Tsunade could do nothing more for him at this point. It was no longer in her hands and she knew far too well that it was only his business and no one else's to go after him.

Maybe she had doomed him by letting him go alone...so enraged and blinded by his emotions...but she had something much more than Orochimaru and Sasuke would ever have. She had faith in him.

If there was anything Naruto had made clear to her, it was that he never failed because his intentions remained true and pure, unwavering...and most importantly, Naruto never gave up...because that is his way of the ninja.

'Naruto, bring her back.' Tsunade said hopingly.

-------------------

A flash of red tore through the forest.

An animal-like figure on all fours sprinted from side to side, destroying anything that came in its way.

He stopped for a minute to sniff the air.

'Sakura!'

He was getting closer and closer. The scent was so strong he could almost touch it.

It was nearly daylight, the sun was almost shining through. He had been traveling like this for a while now...but he never took one moment to rest.

Time was precious to him and all he wanted was to get to her.

He pulled his nose back down and within a second, the thing was gone, leaving behind destruction with its blight fury.

------------------

"Well, well, now, everything just worked out for the better." Orochimaru maniacally laughed.

In the turn of events that just happened, Orochimaru went from extremely frustrated to jocundly happy. Not so long ago he was on the verge of cutting Sasuke's head off for screwing things up for him...but now, Sasuke managed to redeem his good status with Orochimaru's unpleasant grace.

"Haha," he sniggered, "here I thought you had become pathetically useless."

Uchiha Sasuke stood in front of the devil's zealot. He disdainfully watched as Orochimaru laughed in every way possible.

If there was one thing he hated more than his brother, it was disrespect.

"Just when I thought you couldn't be of anymore use, you pull through for me." The snake hissed out.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

He hated hearing those words...useless...pathetic.

He ardently loathed it.

He thought by now that he deserved to be treated better, if anything to be treated equally. However, as Orochimaru danced and paraded about chortling how useless and pathetic he was, Sasuke couldn't help but hate him. Of course he had hated him long before, he hated him even when he was his mentor and only friend, but never in a way that made him so angry at himself and...regret what he had chosen to do.

The feeling was all too uncomfortable for him, having never regretted anything in his life, and even if so, he never really hated himself for it. So he decided to push it aside for now and remain focused on the issue at hand.

"So, you have what you wanted, now let us go." Sasuke said at Orochimaru's exasperating words.

Orochimaru stopped his audible musings to give Sasuke an inquisitive look of amusement and frustration.

He became stern and walked towards Sasuke. "Ah, but indeed I have not what I want, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke clenched his fist in aggravation.

"Look, I did what you want, I took Sakura so that Naruto would follow me and come here to you," Sasuke yelled back. "There's nothing more that I need to do."

Orochimaru thought for a minute.

For a moment he thought about letting Sasuke go and disappear with that pink-haired woman...but decided against it. No...it would be so much more fun if Sasuke stuck around the moment Naruto fell for his trap and become a part of him forever.

Orochimaru had seen that Sasuke reacted differently when the Kyuubi vessel was mentioned, to his dismay, he found out that Sasuke was...attached to his next vessel.

Yes, it's there, he could feel it whenever he spoke about the man around him, but whether it was gleaming admiration, seething hatred, or something much more that he could not comprehend, or rather he had never known or experienced, was the question. Was Sasuke indifferent in what they had sealed as their deal?

"No, you're not going anywhere just yet."

"What!? We had a deal, I bring you Naruto and you let me take Sakura!"

Orochimaru was a little ashamed that Sasuke has learned nothing about dealing...especially with him.

"Sasuke-kun...your part of the deal is not even complete yet...is Naruto here?"

Sasuke just couldn't take another minute in there with him and stormed out the room.

-----------------------

It was at sun up when he finally gave in.

His body was too fatigued to go any further...he had to rest.

Naruto's entire form changed in a second and he became human again.

No longer where his fangs sharp, or his eyes set on killing.

He stumbled upon a little stump and there he rested his head. He panted heavily because after all he has been running for hours.

Naruto placed a hand where his scar was...it was still hurting after all this time.

"Hey."

Naruto's head jerked up at the sudden voice. To his surprise, he saw his beautiful cherry blossom, glowing with pure, unbridled beauty.

"Sakura-chan...how?"

Sakura walked towards him and kneeled down. "How what, Naruto?"

He didn't know whether he was dreaming of her or whether he had gone completely insane...but either way, he wasn't going to fight it.

"You poor thing, you look so tired." Sakura's voice mended the pain of his scar. "Why don't you just rest for a while?"

How her voice just made him want to sleep, to lay down his tired, worn out body for a second. He desperately needed rest...for his own health and her well being.

"But I need to go and find you." Naruto said to her, remembering why he was in such a hurry in the first place.

"Silly...I'm right here. Why are you looking for me?"

Naruto knew now that he was dreaming.

"Sakura-chan...I-, nothing, I don't know why I'm looking when you're here the entire time." He finally gave in, because even if this was a dream or he was hallucinating, this Sakura was just as insistent as the real Sakura. He could argue with her till sun down and the result would always be the same...he would lose and she would get her way.

Sakura smiled. "You work too hard Naruto, just rest for a bit."

Her voice sent him in a trance and, like a baby being rocked to sleep, he dozed off.

"You're going to need all you've got for what's to come, Naruto."

There was a blinding white light and Naruto awakened.

'Just a dream.'

His body, however short that nap was, felt rejuvenated and refreshed.

Naruto got up and prepared to move on, and as soon as he was up, he disappeared into the woods.

-------------------------------------

Sakura fidgeted in her sleep.

"Naruto..." she said weakly.

'Even in her sleep she thought about him.'

Sasuke brushed aside her hair.

He sat there looking at her as she restlessly slept.

'But soon you will forget all about him, Sakura.'

All he wanted to do now was just leave with her...to take her as far away from all this so she could forget about Naruto and remember her feelings for him.

In his youth that may have been possible, back when she was his willing servant and would do anything he desired. But, just like everything else in his life, it all died and was lost in their memories. He regretted now that he paid no attention to her, for just shoving her aside and calling her nothing more than a nuisance. But who would have thought that one day he would be wanting her so much...though it wasn't exactly love he felt for her.

"Why do you want her so badly anyway?"

Sasuke had been so busy in his thoughts he didn't hear Orochimaru coming in.

"You could have anyone you want, yet you choose this woman."

"That's exactly why I want her." Sasuke turns around to get up. "Because I can't have her."

This had always been his way. Once he set his mind onto something or in this case, someone, he would stop to no end to get it. Because he couldn't have her now when he could have easily gotten her long ago made him want her. And the more he couldn't get her, the more he wanted her.

"Because she is unattainable."

It was his curse, his burden. Uchiha Sasuke was weak for anything he couldn't get.

It was the reason why he left Konoha, he couldn't get enough of the power he tasted from Orochimaru. It was the reason he wanted Itachi dead, because he could never be as powerful as he is. And it was the reason why he wanted Sakura now, because Naruto has her and he doesn't.

"Naruto..." Sakura said weakly in her sleep.

And because Naruto got her before he did.

Orochimaru laughed, "Well, it would seem that she still loves the boy."

"Not for long she won't."

Sasuke was determined that she would forget all about that stupid fool...soon...soon it will all end.

Sakura grunted in her sleep.

She's not doing well...the poison is getting to her. Her body was cold, her skin pale, and her breathing was heavy.

She needed to be cured now!

Sasuke's expression suddenly changed from the hating look he was displaying just a moment ago.

It altered...transformed to...guilt?

Was it really guilt that he was expressing now? He had never shown such emotions, his very life for the last few years did not allow him to. He was trained, as Orochimaru's pupil and as a ninja as well, to never show emotions, especially guilt for what he had done. He trained his body and mind to never allow himself to show such degrading and pitiful actions...to show _human _qualities of _weakness_.

But her sudden outburst of pain and misery cracked his defenses, if only a little.

"Sasuke-kun, I hope you're not getting soft here!" Orochimaru much more demanded of him than asked.

To which Sasuke gave him a glare before walking away.

-------------------

Sasuke walked out the room and back into the corridors and into the main chamber.

As he strolled along, all Sasuke could think about was getting the cure from Kabuto, err Orochimaru. Orochimaru had also promised him that the moment he got his new body, he would give him the cure.

However, remembering the memory of when Orochimaru said it made him quiver. The way Orochimaru had said it, the way he looked sadistic and how he was smirking, made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

Orochimaru was keeping something from him.

Whatever it was, Sasuke knew for sure that he would rather not find out.

The instant that he stepped into the main chamber, a kunai came flying in their direction.

He immediately went on standby and tuned towards the area the kunai came from.

Sasuke looked a little ridiculous as his usual battle stance was affected by the abrupt threat that had just happened. He was leaning slightly forwards as if he was about to fall.

"You thought that you could take her away from me and get away with it!?"

Naruto jumped down from where he was standing.

"You have another thing coming!"

Naruto's eyes were full of rage. The blood rush from the excitement of finally catching up invigorated his usually already energized self.

Finally, he was here.

--------------------------

Back inside the room where she was held, Sakura squirmed in her bed.

She had been shuffling here and there from the moment she arrived.

In her subconscious, she could hear a voice telling her to get up...get up and move!

She could not quite comprehend why her mind was telling her so.

Why?!

She thought hard to remember...but she couldn't. Nothing rang clear as to where she was and why she wanted so badly to get away from it.

What was the last thing she remembered?

She tried to think...to remember...but how could she if she didn't even know what it was she was supposed to be remembering?

Then she heard the faint sounds of something clashing together...and she could faintly see a room as she descended backwards. The sounds were like those of pots hitting the floor in the kitchen.

A vague glimpse of gold and orange...what is that? 

And then it started to form...a figure...with golden hair and... an orange body?

No...it was his pants...

_"Sakura-chan!"_

And just like that...her mind flooded her with memories and she remembered who she was and what happened.

Sakura shot up from her bed.

"Naruto!"

-------------------------

**End of Chapter 12**

**So, yeah...next chapter is the last one guys.**

**And I say this now...I'm not very good at writing heavy detailed action scenes...or actually, I'm to lazy to. I don't particularly like actions in sense of brutal none stop punches and endless jutsu wars...so that means if I do try and make it as actiony as possible, don't expect the type that Masashi Kishimoto writes. **


	13. Redemption Pt2

Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: Why do I have to disclaim something that I never claimed to be mine in the first place?...what...what was that?...because Shonen Jump and Masashi Kishimoto would sue my ass for copy right infringement?...oh...well in that case...(clears throat)...I hereby disclaim Naruto or anything else that is Naruto-related!...is that good? is that okay?...alright.

AN's:

Awww...this is my last AN's for this story...(pouts)

I first want to say thank you to everyone who has supposed this story.

I thank everyone that reviewed and commented.

It means so much (copy and paste x300) to me that you guys actually took the time to read my story.

I also thank templar132.

I can never express enough just how much he has helped me out in this story. He is the greatest ever. Thank you!

Alright...that's it.

**Summary/Overview: **

**From the beginning, it has always been about Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura had gotten together about four months ago during a romantic mission. Upon their arrival back to Konoha, they were alerted by a messenger that a certain person was to return. This person was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, their friend and long time partner. At first, Naruto and Sakura thought that nothing could go wrong, but soon, Naruto began having fears that Sakura may still have lingering feelings for Sasuke, feelings that until now had been dormant. However, Sakura quickly silenced his doubts by reassuring him time and time again that there was no one else she loves more than him. For some time, everything fell back into place, team seven was once again team seven and Naruto and Sakura were happily together. But, lurking in the darkness, a man was determined to take their happiness away, a man so bent on getting what he wants, he would do anything to get it, so much so that he made a deal with the devil. The demon wasted no time, and before we can think about what happened, Naruto was forced to do something he never thought he could do; Naruto broke up with Sakura. Only he did it to save her, so he could see her everyday instead of mourning over her grave. However, they soon lost control and let their desires get the best of them. There happiness was short lived, however, because soon the poison in Sakura's body began to take effects and as a result, she was rushed to the hospital. Just when Tsunade was about to operate on Sakura...she vanished. It didn't take much for Naruto to realize just who did it...and before long...he was hunting down Sasuke. In the meantime, as Sasuke awaits for his arrival...something within him awakens...something he had long buried deep inside him. And now, after so many agonizing months, everything was about to end.**

_'thoughts'_

"talking"

**Inner self/ Kyuubi**

_Flashbacks_

-----------------

Previously

----------------

_A vague glimpse of golden and orange...what is that?  
_

_And then it started to form...a figure...with golden hair and...an orange body?_

_No… those were his pants..._

_"Sakura-chan!"_

_And just like that...her mind flooded her with memories and she remembered who she was and what happened._

_Sakura shot up from her bed._

_"Naruto!"_

-------------------

**Chapter 13: Redemption Pt.2**

-------------------

The room was deadly silent as the two ninjas stared each other down. The hairs on the back of their necks rose, but whether it was from excitement of finally meeting or the fear of each other was no longer significant to either of them.

They were here now and that was what mattered.

"Where is she?" Naruto demanded from him, although his osmotic senses could smell that she wasn't far off.

Sasuke, however, chose not to answer his immediate question. He was too fixated on trying to find something he could use as a weapon.

If there was one thing he learned while training with Naruto, it was to keep him busy from attacking. He searched within the room for anything... a sword, a knife, a rat...anything, but nothing was in the desolate, dark room. Only the few torches that hung on the walls and columns...he would have used them, but they were too far up to reach.

Seeing as there was nothing he could use as a physical distraction, he settled on a more constructive tactic.

Conversation.

"Don't worry about her...she's fine." His voice allowed for no emotion to slip through, careful not to sound too cautious of him.

He didn't want, no, he didn't need for Naruto to know that he was caught completely off guard and vulnerable. He had to hide it long enough for something else to happen...for Naruto to drop his guard, or until Orochimaru got there.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, even though he was now in his best defensive stance, he could not prepare for the swiftness and alacrity that was Naruto's momentum.

In one rapid stroke of his vigorous fist, Sasuke was sent flying across the stone-hard ground.

"How could you, Sasuke?!" Naruto's voice darkened as he clenched his fist tighter, making it turn pale and bloodless. "I thought that you were..."

What Naruto heard next baffled his mind.

Sasuke started to laugh.

He really couldn't respond any other way. He couldn't get up and start talking like nothing happened...so he just started laughing.

For no reason, it just seemed appropriate at the moment.

He slowly stood up, oscillating a little when he finally got up due to the blow he just received.

"Hehe...what did you expect?" Sasuke trailed off as he wiped away the blood oozing from his lower lip. The impact of Naruto's punch was taking a toll on him and the tiny amount of blood that dripped did little to show just how painful that hit was. "Did you honestly think that I would come back and everything would be just like before?"

Sasuke's words struck him.

Did he really let himself to believe that Sasuke would be the way he used to be before everything got screwed up?

"Seriously, Naruto. Did you honestly believe that I would change? Have changed?"

"I...did." Naruto said weakly, betrayed by his own self for letting Sasuke do this to them.

He let his hopes take control and fog his better judgment when Sasuke came back. He thought, or wanted to think that everything was finally okay, that everything was back to the way it used to be. He never once thought that Sasuke would do such things as this. To lie and deceive them from the start.

"I thought-"

"Thought what?" Sasuke cut him off, "That I would become noble after my return?"

Sasuke was finally face to face with him, just a few feet away.

"Wake up, Naruto. Stop living in your perfect little world because it doesn't exist." Sasuke's emotionless and pitchless words cut him like a knife. Though they weren't really as hurtful as other things he'd heard, they still stung.

Mostly because it came from Sasuke. The guy he once thought of as his best friend and his...brother; and a little bit because he knew Sasuke was right.

All his life he lived wanting the world to be perfect. To be anything other than what it really was.

"Face it. This is me. It always has been and always will be."

To believe that there was something better out there...there had to be. Life couldn't be just pain and torture. He desperately held on to that notion, needing it more than anything.

As Naruto bowed his head in disappointment and defeat, Sasuke took every opportunity he had. And just as quickly as Naruto, he delivered a blow to his face and sent him soaring up.

Naruto landed a couple of feet from where Sasuke stood.

Naruto would have winced in pain, but whenever he was lost in his thoughts, it was pretty hard to break his demeanor, which was still currently displaying defeat.

Sasuke was right. The world was not as he would imagine. It was harsh and brutal and cared not about the individual. That was that, that was the truth and he just had to accept it.

However...

May it have been another person that Sasuke was talking to, maybe it would have succeeded, but you see, Naruto was not that person.

No, if there was one thing Naruto was good at, it was faith. Believe it!

"You say that...but do you even believe yourself?" Naruto was now standing up. "Is this really you now?"

"Are you so bent on calling the world a doomed place for everyone that you believe in nothing else?" He continued.

Naruto tried, he tried reaching out to him with his words. Whatever plan that Sasuke had in killing his spirit was meaningless because it had failed, if it ever had the chance of succeeding to begin with.

Naruto wanted to tell Sasuke that he only held his idealistic views of the world because of what he went through. It wasn't fair to Sasuke that it all happened to him.

"Sasuke, you are a better person than this, I know it." But his words fell on deaf ears.

Sasuke wasn't listening to what Naruto was trying to tell him. No, he was too frustrated with everything else right now to care anymore.

Who was he to think that he knew everything, what he has been through. Naruto had no idea what it was like, so therefore his words were useless to him.

"You know nothing, Naruto."

Sasuke said before he rushed at him.

Their fists collided with each other as a gust of wind exploded from the impact. The two jerked backwards an inch or two, but held there positions nonetheless.

-----------------------

Orochimaru stood on a balcony projecting from the second floor.

He watched as the two ninjas at the lower level traded punches and kicks, and occasionally a few jutsus.

He was a little concerned about Naruto. He didn't want his next body to be battered and wounded after the transfer, so he decided to cut in... after letting things play out a bit more.

------------------------

Naruto slid across the room, leaving a trail of dust in front of him. His back smacked against one of the many columns in the room.

"Don't talk to me like you know." Sasuke picked him up by the collar with one flexed arm. "You know nothing about me!"

Naruto kicked him away using both his legs. Sasuke stumbles backwards as Naruto regained his footing.

"I was there, Sasuke." Naruto was now looking intently at him, his eyes showing sympathy and pain. "We were a team...are a team."

Sasuke just slapped away his statement with a laugh.

"You, me...and Sakura."

Naruto wondered where he was keeping Sakura at. He could faintly smell her, but his smell wasn't keen enough to pinpoint exactly where in this big dungeon she was in.

An infuriating feeling awakened within Sasuke after hearing him mention her name...like it was his to say.

"I never needed a team...and Sakura either." Sasuke said coldly. "Look at you, so wretched and useless...why would she ever want you?"

He hated hearing her name with that voice...no...he just hated that voice. It made his blood boil with hatred and malice.

Sasuke ran towards him, his bruised body and tired mind forgot everything and all he knew was that he wanted to kill the guy in front of him.

Naruto was quick to avoid his punch...but not enough to defend himself when Sasuke appeared out of nowhere beside him, snatching his neck like it was nothing.

"Why do talk like you hate us so much?" Naruto asked with so much compassion for his lost friend.

How could he even ask that!

'Why?! Why do I talk...'

Sasuke tried to compose himself so that he didn't snap his neck from pure anger...or rather from resentment...and jealousy.

That's right...he was jealous of Naruto. Always had been.

It just took him this long to admit it.

He was jealous that Naruto was happy and he was miserable; and he was jealous because Naruto was above him. In everything.

Love, courage, determination, and...strength.

"Sasuke...you're my friend, and no matter what...I will always think that," Naruto barely let out from his suffocating hold, "but you're just confused...and lost...but," Sasuke's hold tightened a little, "we'll always be here for you, because we love you."

Something within him cracked.

It was the same barrier that not too long ago Sakura managed to fracture a little.

After all he had done to him...to all of them...he was still willing to call him his friend and to be...there.

This feeling...it was...NO!

Naruto was trying to make him weak, to lower his defenses so that he could get the upper hand.

That fool, did he really think it would work?! Sasuke smirked.

"Hehe...you almost had me there, but your little plan has no effect on me." Sasuke pulled back his fist to deliver one final destructive blow to his face when...

"Sasuke-kun!"

------------------

The new voice had the both of them freezing in what seemed to be surprised astonishment.

Sasuke, however, didn't release his hold on Naruto's neck, it stayed firm as it was before. Naruto also didn't move.

They were too stunned to hear that voice that they couldn't do anything, leaving them completely immobile and probably exposed and defenseless.

"Sasuke-kun, stop." Sakura's voice was a little shaky, partly because she was still under the effect of the poison and partly because she wasn't fully awake. "What are you doing?"

Sakura staggered across the chamber to another column in the room.

By instinct, Naruto tried to free himself from Sasuke's grasp so he could hold Sakura, and in a blink of an eye, another Naruto appeared out of nowhere and landed a kick on Sasuke's head, sending him down into the ground.

Naruto wasted no time and ran to her side.

Sakura was breathing heavily, her body betraying her as it gave in and she fell to the ground. She was still too weak to stand up on her own. Fortunately, Naruto was already by her side and aiding her.

"Sakura-chan...I'm so sorry, I...so sorry...I tried to get here as fast as possible...but," Naruto was attacking her with words she couldn't understand. Sorry? Here? She didn't know. She just knew that she suddenly woke up in a dark room with no one but her and a bed in there and with the memory of what happened before she passed out. She felt dizzy, sick, and just uncomfortable throughout and all she wanted to do was try and figure out why Sasuke just had Naruto in a choke hold...and where she was.

"Nna..ru..to..?" She asked weakly as her strength slowly, very slowly, came back. She still had this weird feeling in her gut that made her uneasy, but she didn't care to find out what it was at the moment.

"Sakura-ch-" That was all he could muster up before a feeling kicked itself on his face and thus sending him flying the other direction.

Sakura stiffened in unpleasant tension. 'Naruto!'

Sasuke was again at his feet and back to deliver more to Naruto. He turned his direction to Sakura, whose face showed that of fear, confusion, compassion, sympathy, and all the while disgust towards him. He was bothered by her look, he hadn't expected to see her up and to see her with that expression on her face...as if she felt sad for him and at the same time hated him.

However, Sasuke didn't have time to think about the meaning of her gaze, or the fact that he wanted to think about thinking about her gaze.

He held out his one hand and offered to help her up.

"Sakura, you have to get away from here." He said with just a little speck of concern as he finally spoke with more enthusiasm than he had ever before in his life.

Why he wanted to get her away from here, he didn't know. Why he even cared to wonder why was an even more confusing thought.

He had never shown such concern towards anyone...or did he?

His mind was so boggled up with different memories of the past he didn't know which ones to believe.

Did he ever show concern towards anyone but himself? As far as he could remember, he wasn't even allowed to show such human emotions. Why then did he feel this should-have-been-foreign feeling as something familiar, something he had already felt before? The gaze of confusion and hurt she was giving him baffled his otherwise stable thoughts to the brink of making him draw back and retreat to his ever so clouded mind. So much so that his instinctive response formed the same bewildered look that she gave him unto his face, and they stared at each other as if they were seeing each other for the first time.

Sakura also noticed the conflict within him. She saw through his eyes as he fought a war within his mind about whatever it was he was so perplexed about. It wasn't like him at all to be showing this, all the time she had known him, she had never once seen him show such eyes. He had always been determined, had always known what he wanted. Seeing him now so lost and helpless in his mind made her sympathize.

As lovely and touching such a moment like commiserating was, Sasuke had never been too fond of them.

"You know what, whatever, do what you want, I don't care." Ostensively that's what he wanted them to think. Truly he was scared that maybe he _was_ after all...lenient, for a lack of a better word, for her, for Naruto. For them both. And in any case you look at it, Sasuke had always had a soft spot for them...he had just buried it in him after the day he left.

"Sasuke," but before Sakura could say anything more, another body poofed it's presence in the room, right beside where Naruto was.

"Hehehe, well done Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru chortled in the chamber. "Well done."

Immediately, Sasuke had forgotten his previous revelation and was beside Orochimaru in an instant.

Naruto was still lying on the ground from that nasty kick on the head he received from Sasuke, but slowly he was becoming aware of his surroundings.

"You have Naruto now, now give me the cure as you had promised." Sasuke said with no emotions whatsoever. You'd think that his recent not so exposed exposé would have him jittering uncomfortable nervousness to get the hell out of there before he could think more about what happened...but it didn't. Sasuke was as placid as he could be and maybe even more.

"Ahh, the cure...but of course."

"Well?" Sasuke awaited for him to hand over...something. But all Orochimaru did was look at him with a sadistic evil look on his face. The ever growing enigmatic feeling in him only grew more.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's voice echoed in the chamber as she slowly got up. He turned his gaze to her, who in turn turned her gaze at Naruto, who is now on his toes.

For a moment, gazes that yelled out a millions words but none at all traded among them.

Then there was a blazing feeling that suddenly emerged out of nowhere. It didn't take much to realize that it was Naruto's chakra that was sent raging in the room. As Sasuke turned his gaze back to Naruto, he realized that that searing chakra was nothing short of an anger scorching within Naruto towards him and Orochimaru.

"Kabuto!" Only the anger was much more directed towards the snake than to him.

Orochimaru was amazed as to how powerful his chakra could boost in a matter of seconds, and he was rather excited about it.

Naruto lunged at him in a second...but Orochimaru had already expected this from him. He dodged the punch like it was nothing.

Naruto didn't give up though, he was too fixed on fracturing Kabuto's face to realize that he was really fighting Orochimaru, who seemed to be having ease in fighting him.

Naruto summoned four other replicas of himself, hell bent on killing the guy in front of them.

Two had positioned themselves around his back, and then one on either side of him while the real Naruto stood immediately to his front. They all drew out a kunai with murder written all over their faces.

Orochimaru was not at all intimidated...but rather amused by the boy's will. Screw trying to keep the product untouched, there was always time to heal, for now he just wanted to enjoy this. See just how much his body could do and take.

Kabuto smirked.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from her, Naruto-kun." Kabuto said to him trying to fuel the flame that he started. The blaze in Naruto's eye only invigorated.

"Shut up!" Naruto roared.

Then Naruto with his clones attacked.

The two from either side were the first to move, trying to distract Kabuto by rushing to him on both sides. Then next to move were the two from the back, drawing out another set of Kunai to plunge into his body.

The instance that all four attacks connected, Kabuto vanished and was replaced by a log.

Suddenly, two of the clones poofed away when Kabuto reappeared from nowhere to attack. Naruto had anticipated that he would do that.

Just as quickly as Kabuto appeared, Naruto was already behind him thrusting a kick on his back. Naruto called out two more clones and all five of them ran after his falling form.

They all threw their respective weapons...but the cloud of dust that encircled his body when he fell made it impossible to see if it had worked. When all was clear, Kabuto was nowhere to be found.

The four other clones vanished, leaving Naruto alone in the chamber.

He decided to take this time in Kabuto's absence to check up on Sakura.

He ran to where she was.

"Sakura-chan!" The girl slightly opened her eyes. God she was so weak. Her frail body silently shook under his arms, she felt cold and burning all at the same time. Naruto brushed aside the hair that was hanging loose. "Sakura-chan?"

Her feeble self could not detect the worry in his voice. She was slowly fading off again. Her eye lids weighed heavier and heavier and his soothing touch only made her want to go to sleep.

---------------------------

In the corner where he stood petrified, Sasuke could only wish now that he was somewhere else but here. Anywhere else now than the hellhole he had fallen into.

The smirk that Orochimaru plastered on his face made him realize that...that he...

'Sakura...she's dying ever minute she spend in this place.' He thought to himself.

The realization that struck him not too long ago made him...completely stiff with horror. It fossilized him to that one spot.

Screw everything! After all he had done for that bastard of a fuck, this was what he repaid him with. Deceit and trickery. Orochimaru was probably laughing his ass off by now, mocking him for his stupidity and selfishness.

How could he have not known!

Of course Orochimaru would do it, of course he would.

He should have known!

That smirk was enough to open his eyes to the truth.

Orochimaru had never intended for him to leave that place alive. No, he would not leave this place alive.

'Sakura...in order to cure her...I have to die.'

--------------------------

"Sakura-chan, just hold on a bit longer, 'k?"

She couldn't understand what he was saying, but she trusted they were good. His voice alone was all she needed to calm down. To stop her shivering from the somehow freezing non existent wind in the room. To stop her mind from slipping away into a horrid pain of confusion and hurt.

"Sakura-chan...I'm so sorry...I-" he fought the tears back, knowing that it would only frighten her more than help her. "I'm..."

She no longer heard anything after that. All she could focus on was at the fast approaching blade coming towards them.

Everything fell silent, leaving only her lost in the moment. Naruto was so caught up on whispering things to her to realize that death was coming in the form of a merciless little blade.

She saw through slow motion as she summoned up what little strength she could muster and before Naruto could do a thing, she had reversed their position so that she was now at the receiving end of the blade. Her back was turned to his and she faced the forthcoming end with arms wide open.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw what she was doing.

For his part, Sasuke had also seen the blade, but was too late to stop it.

"SAKURA!" They both yelled in unison.

The silver knife ripped through her flesh with ease. The cut grew bigger as the blade pierced her, followed by the endless flow of blood.

Then she fell...she fell into his arms as tears cascaded from his eyes. The deafening silence took over. She could no longer hear him.

His warm tears fell on her face and she couldn't help but reach up and wipe them away. Naruto's hold on her tightened.

"Sakura-chan!" His voice was alienated by his fleeting tears and the gut wrenching pain he felt. If he breathed any bigger, his chest would have exploded due to the anger building up in there. He held her so tight and close to her. "God...please don't...no...don't do this!" The warm tears never halted, but only grew fiercer with every second. Wave after wave he was washed by his scalding tears. "No...Sakura-chan...please don't go...please...don't," he whimpered and wailed, but she never responded.

Naruto frantically attempted to draw the blood back. He tore off his clothing and placed it where the wound was. His hands were trembling as he applied the piece of fabric in a futile attempt to slow her bleeding.

Even though it pained her, he pulled the vile knife out of her. Her scream of pain did not help his panicked state at all.

He wiped the blood away...only to have another wave come out. The more he wiped, the more he smeared blood all over her body and his hands.

She was losing too much blood.

Every inch of his body was terrified.

He finally settled on just holding the piece of fabric at the hole, making sure that it provided enough to hold it all back.

She had become quiet and she was no longer shaking from pain. Her arms settled themselves on her sides. Her breathing slowed every second.

"Sakura-chan..." his voice had died on him, making him talk so quietly it was inaudible. "I'm sorry..."

Sakura could only see his lips moving but could not hear the words he was trying to say.

She was no longer cold...warmth had completely left her body. Her eyes became devoid of life and her face was colorless. She could no longer move a fiber in her body...

"I love you, Naruto." The last thing she did was smile.

His tears have halted.

He no longer needed to cry, he could no longer cry.

He looked to where he was holding the blood soaked garment that used to be his shirt and back to her life-less eyes.

There was nothing...

He couldn't make a sound...

His hands had let themselves free from what it was trying to hold back...

Her eyes haven't blinked...

For a brief moment there was nothing but silence...

And then shock struck him.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

---------------------

Sasuke had seen the blade coming, he had seen it coming before it was even released.

He knew Orochimaru was there, he felt it.

He knew what he was going to do, for God's sake he saw him throw the blade!

He knew Orochimaru was trying to test Naruto's awareness to his surroundings...Orochimaru knew he wouldn't have killed Naruto, never mind that the girl might try to save his life.

Why didn't he move?

The next thing he knew was Sakura had been struck with a tiny sword on her stomach.

It was happening way to fast for anyone to do anything.

He had seen death coming and he did nothing to prevent it.

He watched her fall to Naruto's hand...pale and dead.

That was the final threshold.

No amount of apologies could help bring her back. No amount of compensation, atoning for his sins could ever justify the inaction that he had ultimately decided upon.

He no longer cared.

He felt guilty for trying to run away the moment he realized that in order to have saved Sakura, he had to be the one to die.

And now...he didn't have that choice anymore.

But he could still make it better...he had one last thing he could do to help...before it was all too late.

'Orochimaru, you're going to die, and I'm going to make sure of that.' He said to himself before he finally took a step.

---------------------

Naruto was utterly silent.

Nothing had gone right tonight.

He lost someone precious to him...and he was numb to insanity. He showed no emotion, no life, everything had been drained out of him.

And now that his inner demon came knocking, he was more than willing to let him play.

Nothing was worth it anymore...

If it killed him, he would let the Kyuubi take him down. He would let the monster in him burn this place to hell...if only to avenge her death.

Death was certain tonight...death was the only comfort he would resort to.

----------------------**Konoha...Four months later**-------------------

Naruto stood by the grave.

It was already summer and the sky was ruled by the hot sun. He looked at the open field around him.

He remembered that dreadful night when she...

It ached too much to think about it.

He had lost someone so precious to him at the hands of that bastard.

It shouldn't have ended like that...they had so much more to face. So much more to do together.

The one that should have been here wasn't.

He bended down and looked at the engraving on the stone.

He could still remember the day...no matter how painful it was.

Sasuke had fought Orochimaru by his side. Without him...he would probably be dead too. Together, they managed to weaken Orochimaru enough to kill him.

After Orochimaru's death...Sasuke have given Naruto something he thought he had lost...but the price was Sasuke's life.

Naruto took one final look at the grave before he stood up.

Uchiha Sasuke

Beloved friend and teammate.

The Last Uchiha.

Died Saving a Friend.

----------------------------------

The sun light shined through the room.

Naruto awoke with a groan as he stepped out of his bed and into the bathroom for a shower.

When he was done, Naruto took a step forward to the mirror to examine himself.

His nose then caught the scent of the greatest creation of men.

He smiled.

"Naruto, breakfast is ready."

He immediately put on his pants and ran to the kitchen.

"Hey, there you are, ramen on the table if you want any."

Naruto just stared at the owner of the voice.

"What?"

The smile on his face grew bigger and he took a step forward.

"Naruto?"

He ignored it and took another step.

"Baka, what are you up to now?"

He ran to her and captured her in a tender embrace. "Good morning, Sakura-chan."

The girl couldn't help but smile at his child-like manners. "Good morning, Naruto."

And then he kissed her.

He kissed her like it was the very first time he had ever done so. Sakura had forgotten that she was cooking breakfast and just melted away with his kiss. He picked her up and swung her around as if they were dancing. It was the best time of his life.

Four months ago he had thought he lost her forever. Four months ago he thought she had died. But Sasuke saved her. Sasuke had told him that the cure to Sakura's poison was his chakra,

_"You triggered it Naruto...but it's drawing power from me."_

Sasuke died to save Sakura. Naruto had thought that she died...but turns out, she just passed out from being so tired. The moment that one life ended, Sakura regained her strength enough to heal herself of that nasty wound, which only missed killing her by an inch. It took Naruto so much explaining and tissues to tell Sakura that Sasuke had died saving both their lives. That he said,

_"I'm sorry for everything, even though I don't deserve forgiveness or is worthy of apologizing...I'm sorry. Tell Sakura I'm sorry."_

Those were his final words...before Orochimaru ended his life. Orochimaru had taken Sasuke's life in the end just like he had intended. Just when the two thought they were out of hell, Orochimaru still had a little left to kill Sasuke as he walked away. Naruto gave the last blow to end Orochimaru's life for good. Before Sasuke died, he told Naruto about the cure. Naruto couldn't believe it, Sakura could still live...but Sasuke would die. Before he could think about it anymore, Sasuke slipped away and Naruto was left alone in the room again. He then heard faint sounds of someone moaning, and to much so to his surprise that he nearly fainted, Sakura was on her feet again. Sakura didn't remember that she 'died' and so when Naruto rushed to her and captured her in a bone-crushing hug, she was just a bit startled but nonetheless happy to return the hug.

"Naruto, look at us, we've been living together for nearly four months and I still can't cook a nice breakfast without you doing something." Sakura said between kisses that Naruto was giving her after he had set her down back on the ground. "Is this how our life will be from here on in? Me trying to cook and you always creating new ways to say good morning to me?"

She scrutinized him...nahh, who was she kidding, she loved this more than he did. Sakura just chuckled and returned his kiss. The moment their lips connect, her body was sent into pure bliss and she melted away.

"Yeah, look at us."

---------------------------

**The End!?**

**Okay, if anyone is confused here it is:**

**Sasuke found out that the way to cure the poison was to stop his chakra flow. In order to do that, he had to go far far away from them...or die. Orochimaru decided for him which option to pick. The moment that his chakra was no longer supplying power for the poison, Sakura regained consciousness enough to realize that she was badly wounded and so she heals herself.**

**Ok...Naruto triggered the poison and Sasuke keeps it alive. **

**I know ramen isn't necessarily the best thing for breakfast...but it's Naruto...he would eat ramen anytime of the day all day.**

**That's the only thing I can think of that would have confused you.**

**If there is something else, please tell me so I can clarify.**

**Ok...so that's it I guess.**

**Thanks to templar132. He is the greatest. And if you haven't already, go read his new story. Very well worth your time if you're looking for a good, well written read.**

**Thanks to all that has reviewed and read this story. **

**Bye, it has been really fun!**

**Since the lack of fluff in this, I will go and bake a pie, so if you guys stick around, you can get a piece. **

**Bye!?**


	14. Epilogue

Look At Us Now

by ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto said that he would willingly and legally give me Naruto!...I know I was so shocked too...but then he said he would only do that if...I master the art of underwater basket weaving...well there goes that hope!

**So, here's your nicely overcooked slice of lime flavored pie. : ) **

**But be careful when you swallow, I almost choked when I tried it because the crust is rock hard.**

**What?**

**Don't give me that look!**

**00000000**

**Warning! I may say some things here that doesn't exactly apply as T...but rather R. Some things to some people may sound like border line R for implied thoughts of...umm...well thoughts. Be warned.**

-------------------------------

**Epilogue**

------------------------------

The bells rang and the music played.

The newly wed couple walked down the isle as they acknowledge the people around them yelling 'congratulations' and various other things; and all the while the smile that has been adorning their faces since this morning never seizing to fade, but rather grew even wider as they walked closer and closer to that final threshold to face the world...together.

It was a joyous occasion, one that would never be forgotten.

As the bride and groom took their final step from the church; the groom turned to his wife and, with only his look as a warning, picked her up and carried her through the door.

Everyone clapped and rejoiced.

That was almost two hours ago...and Naruto sat on a chair that was, along with one hundred others of its kind, placed outside the Nara household to celebrate the new union. He looked intently on the wine glass that was on the metal table and then back to the open field that was the backyard to where she was.

She looked divine in her pink kimono that only seemed to highlight her intoxicating beauty. The way her dressed hug her curves made him...excited.

It had been almost three years since that day in the snake's dungeon. Occasionally he would visit, if only in his mind, that place again and remember how much he'd lost that night...but also how much he still has. His mind would replay it again and again, never letting him forget the night he lost Sasuke...but also got back what he thought he lost as well. That night, Sakura remained alive, against all obstacles and what should have been the natural laws of death...she remained alive...remained with him.

"Man! Liven up, Naruto. What's with the emotional retreat?"

Since Naruto was too lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that Lee had suddenly popped out of nowhere and to his face, apparently trying to perk things up.

"Seriously, you will waste your youth thinking that hard." His ever so lively voice couldn't help but make him just feel a tad bit better.

"Sorry Lee, I was just looking..." before Naruto could finish his statement, another voice in the form of a newly wed groom interrupted him.

"I see." Shikamaru was by his side now too.

Naruto had to admit, Shikamaru look...dashing. He quickly dismissed the thought fearing that he might have crossed an unknown line.

Shaking his head a little roughly, Naruto started, "I was just...trying to...umm..to see-" and before he could continue his sad attempt for an excuse, Shikamaru saw right through him.

"Sure...but seriously though," Shikamaru had sat down on the chair right beside him, "don't be so scared...I thought it would be terrifying," and then Shikamaru scratch his head, "which it was...but after the reply...man...greatest feeling I've known." Shikamaru exhaled with relief. He contemplated on whether he should add that his nightly activities would be an even greater feeling...but decided against it...for everyone's sake.

Naruto knew he was right...but that didn't make it easier for him necessarily. This is by far the hardest thing he had ever had to do; worse than battling Gaara; worse than Orochimaru; and especially worse than the Kyuubi...this was Sakura! Haruno Sakura. Around her, he was reduced to mumbling idiot with no sense of logic...like a love sick puppy who never leaves her side. Always there at her back, chasing and following her like a helpless little slave. But a willing slave at that.

Anyway, the point was that this was not exactly an easy little task. He is about to plunge into a dangerous zone of fear and terror and of happiness and joy.

"You can do it, Naruto! Have some faith in yourself." Lee felt a little weird saying that last part to Naruto. Have a little faith in yourself...huh! "Eh, well...just don't mess up." Well, Lee's not exactly the best at cheering people up, kind of weird considering he practically bathes in happiness everyday.

"Yeah..." Naruto let out a breath as his heavy gaze returned back to his goddess.

Sakura couldn't help but blush under his scrutinizing eyes, but she secretly loved it as well. She was weak under his sapphire eyes and adored him because of it. She loves the way her body, especially down there, tingles every time he look at her with those eyes. The pool of pleasure he would give her with something as simple as a look made her knees weak. A look that studied every part of her body. Then suddenly, she wanted to feel his strong arms around her, holding her as she bounced up and down his...

"Sakura! You listening girl?"

Ino's voice brought her back down to earth...unfortunately!

"Yeah." She somewhat said the truth, a little bit flustered. She was listening...but she was also daydreaming at the same time. Probably wasn't the best time to be thinking of _that _right now, here of all places. But the thought of it made her want it that much more. She wanted to feel him against her right now...she needed him...oh god she needed him now. She craved for his touches...the way he would use his

fingers in such ways that it must be sinful, yet pleasurable. Oh, the thought of doing things here, with the presence of many good friends not to far away, made her hot. So hot, actually, that the thought of running to him and dragging him inside the house in some random room to do _things_ to each other never seized to occupy her mind.

"Sakura! You're not listening again."

"Eh, what? Yeah I am...I'm listening." She cursed herself for being caught yet again. She better get a hold of herself before she lost control, or else Ino would never let her hear the end of it...well, no difference there really. "Honeymoon, right."

But of course, she started to think about him again.

Naruto paced back and forth...and then once more. He was a nervous wreck.

'You should be ashamed of yourself...you can tackle down the hardest of foes...but you can't do this one thing.'

He mocked himself.

It was a brand new day and Naruto stood by a tree, awaiting for the arrival of his Sakura. Yesterday he had been at the Nara household, where his pals had given him the best advice they could on this subject...unfortunately for him, none of them really helped.

He expected as much from everyone else, but he was a little disappointed that Shikamaru couldn't offer him more than a 'yeah, so...good luck with that.' Apparently he thought it was too troublesome to go through the whole ordeal again, saying that once was trouble enough. Fortunately for Ino, Shikamaru didn't think it was too troublesome the first time or else...wait no, fortunately for _him_ that he didn't think it was too troublesome, otherwise Ino would have done things that he couldn't even imagine.

'Ah, focus!'

It was days like these that Naruto wished he could shrivel up into a small piece of nothing and hide away. He hated feeling excited yet completely terrified at the same time.

He decided to rest his tired mind and body against the tree he stood by, knowing well he was going to need it.

Sitting here now, by the tree in the a secluded area of the woods, Naruto could help but remember that day when everything changed.

Almost four years ago, he was sitting against a tree, his whole body stiff because of a certain pick haired girl resting on his shoulders. The weather was perfect, the scenery beyond breathtaking, and the moment too priceless to forget. That day, the day when Sakura had asked to rest on his shoulders, was the day they began their journey. It was that day when his dream became a reality; no longer a fantasy he would always dream about, but a reality that he was sharing with her. No longer where his nights spent dreaming of her, but instead it was spent being with her. Except for that one brief four month period that they weren't together...but that doesn't count anymore.

That one special day of his life when she had finally agreed to be his girlfriend and made him the happiest man to live. So, it is only fitting that this special day was reconstructed the same way, with only a few minor details changed. They were now dating, in fact they were living together, and he knows she loves him. It wasn't exactly the same tree, but you get the idea. They were still the same people, only more deeply in love and matured. And he had to point out the fact that Sakura is more beautiful...it would seem she gets more beautiful each passing day.

Speaking of Sakura, when did she get here?

"Hey."

Naruto was startled a little. Why he hadn't sense her coming was beyond him...but now was not the time to be thinking about that.

"Hello there." Naruto said softly, keeping his gaze on her beautiful emerald eyes. Her eyes that he loved so much; it said so many things to him, but one that really stood out was the gleaming adoration that he always sees in her. Sakura moves closer to him to place a gentle, tender kiss on his lips, to which he more than happily responded to.

"Sorry I'm late." She offered with an innocent smile and another sweet kiss; and Naruto couldn't object.

"No fair." He said while smiling, he knew he sounded like a child, but he also knows that Sakura loves that about him.

"I'll make it up to you." She said as her look turned...seductive; she gave him a wink and nudge, asking him if he got what she meant. The wide grin that appeared on his face said that he got the message.

Naruto pulled her in again for another kiss.

The moment they pulled away, Sakura had once again rested her head on his shoulder.

This was it...there was no turning back. He had stepped in and the doors are locked behind him...nothing else to do but keep going.

Naruto tried to hold the inevitable moment as much as possible, because after all that practice, nothing could really prepare for the real thing. The second he thought he was ready, he would back down again for no reason, well aside from fear. He would come close to saying it, at one point he had actually said the first part, but then he would find distraction to, well, distract her.

But at last, he could no longer hold it off. The moment had come and he had to go through with it now before he chickens out again and hold it off for another time. No, he didn't want to do that anymore, he had waited too long for this, and darn it he was not going to back down! Not even when his brain went into overload and his stomach felt the sick feeling of vertigo.

"Sakura-chan?" He started, his mind racing with his heart, and currently his heart was winning. "..." He saw the words in his head, but saying them was another problem.

"Yes, Naruto?" Sakura asked him, leaning slightly forward to hear him better.

"Will you..." Naruto breath heavily and let out a breath he was holding on for dear life, "will you..." animated sweat were sprinkling everywhere as his heart beat pass the normal abnormal rate.

"Will I?" Sakura looked deep into his eyes, trying to see the end of his question, although she already knew what it was. Naruto is not very good at hiding his emotions and she knows him too well to know where he was going with this. But she gave him the dignity of doing it himself, even though it was hard to constrain herself. The little girl in her, by that I mean Inner Sakura, was screaming in pure excitement. She fainted a couple of times after realizing what was going on, picked herself back up but only to fall again upon remembering it. The weird sensation building up on her chest made her sit on the edge of where she sat, even though she knew what was coming, that didn't make less electrifying.

Naruto swallowed hard and closed his eyes for a second...

"Haruno Sakura, will you..."

Sakura's eyes widen in anticipation and her heart prepared to leap out of her chest.

"Will you m-" Naruto took a deep breath, "mmm...will..."

Sakura was nodding her head along, telling him to go on. 'This is it, he's really going to ask me.'

"Will you...move out of the way, I can't see the view."

Her body became still and she was wordless...had he really just asked that? She had expected something else, something _far _from that. She couldn't remove the shocked, almost confused look on her face as she slowly moved back. 'Huh?...really?...what?' She found herself scratching her head.

Disappointed...mostly embarrassed, Sakura reluctantly moved out of the 'view.'

Unknown to her, it was all part of his plan...ok not really, he freaked out and drew back at he last possible moment. But, it turned out for the better because now she didn't know what to expect. Now, he would truly surprise her.

"Such a beautiful morning, huh?" Naruto began in a cool, calm voice as he glanced with his eyes to see her face.

"Yeah..." She said at last.

Naruto, in one swift move, had tackled her to the ground and was now on top of her. She was a bit surprise by the sudden move, but loved it at the same time. He leaned down and captured her lips.

Immediately, she forgot everything. All she could focus on was his lips, and how it felt rubbing the insides of her mouth. The cool, yet warm feeling of his tongue against her hungry ones made her shake in excitement. She released soft moans of pleasure every time his tongue touch the roof of her mouth or against her teeth. He tasted so sweet and so much like ramen. She slowly became aware of his lingering hands that were traveling up and down her sides, rubbing the sensitive spots of her body. She buckled under his magnificent hands...letting out a moan every time he stopped to caress the sides of her thighs.

Unconsciously, and instinctively, she began moving her own hands; first grazing his back and then further down, giving it a little squeeze before coming back up. When she finally reached his hair, she tugged and pulled, playing with it like there was no tomorrow.

Then Naruto then moved his kisses on her neck, where he sucked hard, making her scream in delight and partly open her eyes.

And then she caught site of something...something glimmering in his hair. She pulled out her hand and...her heart stopped for a moment...she was struck with awe.

Naruto had stopped to look her in the eyes, and without hesitation and with so much love, he asked,

"Will you marry me?"

Sakura couldn't speak for a second. Her eyes were glued to his after hearing him ask those words. She glanced once more at the sparkling ring on her finger, wondering how it got there.

'How did he do that?' Inner Sakura had offered that he may have slipped it on her finger when she was too busy consentrating on his ministrations.

And then she finally gave him an answer, after a few tears started rolling down her face from pure happiness and excitement, "Yes! Of course yes!"

Naruto smile and leaned back down to give her a kiss.

It wasn't long before everybody knew they were betrothed. It had only taken about a day before the news broke out and everyone were congratulating them.

And in a months time, they were married. The happiest day of their life. He had promised her an eternity of love as she did to him. He sworn through sickness and in health that he would be there, until the day he died. She vowed to always love him and make him ramen to the end. And they kissed each other in the presence of friends and family, united at last and bonded forever.

They walked down that carpeted path and through that final door...and braced themselves when they step foot unto the world as husband and wife.

From here on out, they would face everything together, do everything together.

As they strode along past the crowd of family and friends...they couldn't help but smile. And one thought cross their mind as they rode away into their new life...

'This was only the beginning.'

And little known to them, they were about to change their life once more. As they spend their first night as man and wife, they didn't know that that was all it took to create another life. And in nine month's time, Naruto and Sakura would become parents.

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**The End!**

**That was the last chapter...and it was a little sad for me to write it because I had really enjoyed it.**

**But, unfortuantely, all things must come to and end. **

**Well, it has been really fun.**

**I thank you all for reading this story and reviewing.**

**Which, by the way, just cuz it's the last chapter doesn't mean that I wouldn't want reviews. So please review before you leave...it would mean so much to me. **

**And one last time, thanks again to templar132 and to everyone esle that reviewed. **

**Well...**

**Goodbye.**


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